Jamaica petitions British monarch in reparations campaign
The petition comes amid wider international efforts seeking reparatory justice for descendants of people enslaved through the transatlantic slave trade.
Jamaica has petitioned the British monarch over the legality of the transatlantic slave trade, as part of its campaign seeking reparations from the United Kingdom.
The move was reported by Al Jazeera Global News and forms part of a broader international push for reparatory justice linked to the role of countries in the transatlantic slave trade and centuries of slavery.
A United Nations resolution in March described reparations claims as a step towards a remedy for descendants of enslaved people. Most Western countries abstained from the vote, while the United States opposed it.
African and Caribbean countries meeting in Ghana in June developed a reparatory-justice plan that included debt relief and other support for African nations. The proposals under discussion do not necessarily involve direct compensation.
Last month, a UN committee said governments are legally obliged to consider paying damages. The available material does not establish whether that view is binding law, whether the United Kingdom accepts an obligation to pay reparations, or how the monarch has responded to Jamaica’s petition.
