Background

Reparatory justice for the centuries of enslavement and trafficking in Africans across the Atlantic, subsequent colonization and ensuing diverse forms of segregation is a priority for all Africans and people of African descent. Separated violently from their families, their communities and their cultures, millions lost their liberty, their identity, their religion, as they were physically, sexually, and psychologically abused, subjected to degrading and dehumanizing treatment for the rest of their lives.  Families, communities, and entire societies were torn apart, destroyed, resulting in generations of people of African descent who were scarred physically, materially, and psychologically. The irreparable transgenerational harm continues to reverberate throughout our histories.

Reparatory justice is grounded in principles of natural justice. Reparation is also a general principle of law. It is the right of remedy for any person or people subjected to harm.  Reparations have been provided to victims and their descendants of the Holocaust, Japanese internment, apartheid, and killings forced sterilization. Discussions on reparatory justice to Africans and people of African descent for past injustices have been progressing in the international community and there is a need to advance in that direction.

General Assembly Resolution 60/147 of December 2005 on “Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law”, recalling the provision of Article 75 of the Rome Statute among others, outlines the parameters for reparations including that statutes of limitations shall not apply to gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law which constitute crimes under international law (Section IV). This provides the legal basis for the pursuit of reparatory justice for Africans and people of African descent for the enslavement, trafficking, colonization and various forms of apartheid to which they have been subjected. While there have been sporadic, and increasingly more concrete reparatory initiatives in several countries at the national, local and community-based levels, a comprehensive, proportionate response and approach – in scope, reach and depth – for the harm done to Africans and people of African descent identifying common principles, is still lacking at the global level. Given the diversity in the history, geography and the impact of enslavement, forcible transfer, torture, apartheid and other inhumane acts perpetrated against Africans and people of African descent, reparatory justice must be tailored accordingly.

Objectives and inputs sought

The principal objectives of the 35^th session are to:

• Examine the issues, contexts, challenges and enablers affecting the pursuit of reparatory justice for Africans and people of African descent;
• Identify legal and other provisions, actors and alliances that support reparatory justice;
• Examine the posture and position of States and other entities (public and private), that were instrumental in the enslavement, trafficking, colonization, torture and segregation of Africans and people of African descent for the last four centuries;
• Assess the role, responsibility and accountability of various groups for the harm caused to Africans and people of African descent, the benefits they derived and that have been passed onto their descendants in contrast to the harm caused and the cumulative impact of this harm on the descendants of both groups;
• Examine the factual and legal basis for claims for reparations, as well as the legal procedures/processes to effect claims for reparations including the return of artifacts and assets;
• Put forward a set of common principles and necessary provisions on the basis of existing good practices, opportunities and viable pathways for a global approach to reparatory justice for Africans and people of African descent in courts of law and other instances of remedies.

In pursuing these objectives, the Working Group will pay careful consideration in particular to:

• Its 21 years of research, fact-finding, thematic reviews and engagement with governments and civil society, the evolving body of knowledge it has generated, and the utility and impact of this knowledge;
• The jurisprudence body of UN mandate-holders, investigate mechanisms of the Human Rights Council and Treaty Bodies;
• Emphasizing the centrality of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action to implementing its mandate for the promotion of and respect for the rights of people of African descent;
• Reports of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights;
• Ensuring free, active, and meaningful participation of representatives from all regions to contribute to the discourse, discussion and debate, and to the generation of recommendations on reparatory justice;
• Emphasizing the centrality of reparatory justice in the proposed Second Decade for people of African descent and in the draft United Nations Declaration on the promotion, protection and the full respect of the human rights of people of African descent.

The expected outcomes of the 35^th session are:

• Recommendations on common principles that can guide activists, advocates and representatives of Africans and people of African descent in shaping the complex political, legal, psychological, intellectual, economic and cultural dimensions of claims for reparatory justice;
• Recommendations for a comprehensive legal framework, global action plan, a toolkit, i.e., resources to support public education, activism and advocacy (promotional and legal) implementation, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms and metrics for reparatory justice;
• Recommendations for the United Nations to lead, guide and support the pursuit of reparatory justice.

All interested Member States and other stakeholders are warmly invited to submit any relevant information, and to join the session in person or virtually, which will be held in November 2024. Further information including the venue, concept note and agenda will soon be provided on the webpage of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent. At the end of the session, the Working Group will adopt conclusions and recommendations.

How inputs will be used

Unless otherwise specified, all  submissions will be made available in full and as received on the  webpage of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent. Kindly indicate if the submission contains names, images or other information that should not be posted on the webpage. Please note that not all information provided will be necessarily reflected in the final report.