International Community yet to acknowledge evils of slave trade – Ablakwa

Foreign Affairs Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, says the global community has failed to fully acknowledge the atrocities of the transatlantic slave trade.

His remarks come as Ghana intensifies efforts at the United Nations to secure recognition of the slave trade as a crime against humanity and advance calls for reparatory justice.

Speaking at the CELAC–Africa Summit in Bogotá, Mr. Ablakwa stressed that the push is rooted in a long-overdue demand for historical accountability rather than mere financial compensation.

“For more than 300 years, Africans were treated as property, were tortured, humiliated, raped and forced out of the continent, over 12.5 million of them, in dehumanizing and despicable circumstances,” he said.

He noted that despite the scale of suffering endured, the world has yet to take meaningful steps toward acknowledgment and redress.

“The world is yet to acknowledge this. Perpetrators are yet to apologize and have not compensated the victims. This is the time to demand reparative justice,” he added.

According to the Foreign Minister, Ghana’s position, backed by several African states, seeks to correct what he described as a historic injustice that continues to shape global inequalities.

“This is a resolution seeking to declare the transatlantic slave trade as the gravest crime against humanity,” Mr. Ablakwa stated, referencing the proposal expected to be tabled at the UN General Assembly.

The initiative is being championed by President John Dramani Mahama, who is leading Ghana’s delegation to the UN for a special session on reparatory justice.

Support for the resolution is growing internationally, with Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva backing the move and urging stronger South-South cooperation to prevent inaction.

Mr. Ablakwa maintained that acknowledging the crimes of the transatlantic slave trade is a necessary step toward justice, insisting that global recognition must precede any meaningful reconciliation or compensation efforts.