Caribbean countries are considering approaching the UN’s International Court of Justice for a legal opinion on demanding compensation from 10 European countries over slavery, as the fight for reparative justice is stepped up, the president of the group of 33 nations in the region has said.
Ralph Gonsalves, the current leader of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, said he was also looking for an apology from the British government and expressed disappointment in Rishi Sunak’s lack of engagement in the matter.
He said reparative justice was not just a crude calculation about monetary compensation for descendants of enslaved people, but a wider recognition of the continuing effects of slavery and colonization on public health, economic development, and cultural heritage.
Separately, the Caribbean community has already developed a 10-point plan for reparatory justice, which ranges from demands for full formal apologies from slaver nations to a recognition of native genocide and debt cancellation.
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