UN proclaims African slave trade “worst crime against humanity” / USA and two other countries vote “against”. Romania abstained
The UN General Assembly proclaimed on Wednesday, through a resolution, the trade in African slaves as “the worst crime against humanity”, following a fight led by Ghana, which hopes to open the way for apologies and justice, reports AFP, according to Agerpres.
The resolution was adopted, to applause, with 123 votes in favor, 3 against (USA, Israel, Argentina) and 52 abstentions (including Great Britain and the states of the European Union, including Romania).
The text declares “the trade in enslaved Africans and the racial enslavement of Africans” as “the gravest crimes against humanity”, condemning it as “the most inhuman and persistent injustice against humanity”.
The UN General Assembly has adopted a draft resolution that unequivocally condemns the trafficking of enslaved Africans and the transatlantic slave trade as the most inhuman and enduring injustice against humanity.
123 in favor
3 Against (USA, Israel, Argentina)
52… pic.twitter.com/uHwgCL9GPS— Sherwin Bryce-Pease (@sherwiebp) March 25, 2026
“To justify the unjustifiable, the partisans and beneficiaries of slavery have built a racist ideology, turning prejudice into pseudo-science,” insisted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, pointing out that the “wounds” caused by “this perverse world order” are still “deep”.
He advocated for “the lie of white supremacy to be pointed out” and to “work for truth, justice and reparation.”
The resolution calls on states to engage in a justice process to right the wrongs of the past, notably through official apologies, reparations for victims' descendants, anti-racism policies, and the restitution of looted cultural and spiritual assets.
“The perpetrators of the transatlantic slave trade are known – the Europeans, the United States, we expect them to make all the official apologies to Africa,” and not “soft apologies as they have done in the past,” Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa told AFP on Tuesday, accusing some of them of “refusing to acknowledge their crimes.”
The United States justified its vote in the General Assembly against a “highly problematic” text by saying that the US “does not recognize a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs that were not illegal under international law in the era in which they occurred,” explained its representative, Dan Negrea, also accusing the text of putting crimes “in competition.”
The same arguments were used by EU countries and Britain, who emphasized the monstrosity of slavery but abstained from the vote.
“What we are saying is that when we look at the atrocities that have occurred in human history, none have been so systematic, so prolonged, for over 300 years, with lingering consequences,” the Ghanaian foreign minister countered. “We're not ranking pain. We're not saying our pain is worth more than yours,” he assured.
