UN declares slavery the most serious crime in history

The text received 123 votes in favor at the UN General Assembly and 52 abstentions, including those from Spain, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, as well as the majority of European nations.

The resolution identifies “the trespass of Africans and the racialized slavery of Africans” as the most serious crime due to its far-reaching consequences.

“The definitive rupture it represented in world history, its magnitude, duration, systemic nature, brutality and lasting consequences that continue to shape the lives of all people through racialized regimes of work, property and capital,” the document says.

The US representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc), Dan Negrea, justified his vote, stating that the resolution was “highly problematic in numerous aspects”, despite maintaining his “firm opposition and condemnation of the historical errors arising from the transatlantic slave trade”.

“The United States does not recognize a legal right to redress for historical wrongs that were not illegal under international law at the time they occurred,” Negrea said.

Furthermore, the American representative stated that the text promotes “specific” agendas and encourages the creation of new working groups and “costly” reports, something for which, according to him, the UN “was not created”.

Secretary-General António Guterres referred to the transatlantic slave trade as a “profound betrayal of human dignity” and denounced it as “a machine of mass exploitation and deliberate dehumanization.”

According to him, “it is time to confront the lasting consequences of inequality and racism. We will never forget the victims of slavery. And we must never forget the evil system that perpetuated it for so long.”