The United Nations General Assembly has declared the transatlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity, adopting a resolution that calls for justice, human rights, dignity and healing.
The resolution, spearheaded by Ghana, was adopted with 123 votes in favour, while the United States, Israel and Argentina voted against it, and 52 countries abstained.
The resolution secured an overwhelming 123 votes in favour, backed by a unified coalition of the 54-member African Group and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Leading proponents included Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, and Jamaica, alongside China, India, Brazil, and Russia in supporting the “gravest crime” designation. Other supporters in the “Yes” camp included Türkiye, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Indonesia, Mexico, and Saudi Arabia, reflecting broad cross-regional backing across the Global South for the measure.
A bloc of 52 countries abstained from the final vote, remaining outside the “Yes” camp. The group included the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Japan, along with all 27 European Union member states—among them France, Germany, and Spain—as well as Switzerland, Norway, and New Zealand. Their abstention was echoed by countries such as Oman, Armenia, and Ukraine, underscoring a broader and more nuanced geopolitical divide over the resolution’s legal framing.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said the transatlantic slave trade “was a crime against humanity that struck at the core of personhood, broke up families and devastated communities.”
He urged the international community to reject “the false narrative of racial difference” and to commit to human rights, equality and the inherent worth of every person.
Applause erupted in the United Nations General Assembly Hall on Wednesday as member states adopted a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity.
President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama welcomed the adoption of a United Nations General Assembly resolution declaring the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialised chattel enslavement as the gravest crime against humanity, calling it a historic moment achieved through global solidarity.
He credited the efforts of the African Union, CARICOM and other groups for leading the initiative, and said the decision was a fitting tribute to the nearly 13 million Africans who were enslaved. Recalling revolutionary leader François-Dominique Toussaint L’Ouverture, Mahama emphasised the importance of unity in confronting historical injustices and called for collective action to restore the dignity and humanity of those who suffered under slavery.
Hilary Beckles, Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, has hailed the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption of a resolution designating the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity as a “historic and landmark decision.”
Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, expressed gratitude to all 123 UN member states for their support in adopting the historic resolution A/RES/80/250.