Less Apologies More Reparations

The episode discusses the transatlantic slave trade and the need for reparations. It highlights recent public recognition and remembrance of the trade, particularly in Europe. The Dutch King made an apology for his country's involvement, but more than apologies are needed. The transatlantic trade involved the forced transportation of African people to the Americas between the 15th and 19th centuries. It was a crime against humanity, violating human rights on a massive scale. Reparations are necessary to address the lasting impact of slavery and can take various forms. However, discussions around reparations are complex and controversial. A legal case for reparations would require historical evidence, determining liability, a legal basis, and establishing causation and damages. The book "Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Legal Context of the Crime Against Humanity" delves deeper into these topics. Hello and welcome to this episode of the Diary of a Lawyer and today I want to talk about the transatlantic slave trade in light of the most recent public recognition and remembrance of the trade all over the world, notably in Europe, but the places that made headlines were in Lisbon where the mayor is reportedly stated to have boycotted the day, especially given Portugal's tremendous expansive involvement in the trade and colonialism, starting from countries like Mozambique, Angola, I think Guinea-Bissau and present-day Brazil, where almost 50% of the population, which is a big country, is of African descent or mixed, which obviously implies they are descendants of slaves. And so I think it's a fitting time to actually focus on the legal side of the transatlantic trade and also perhaps more positive are the comments and what looked like a sincere apology by the King of Holland who made an apology in that regard and which was widely reported. So that is sort of the context and also the book that I have published which is called the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Reparations for a Crime Against Humanity, which is a UN now internationally recognized assertion and says less apologies and more reparations. And the book is on the screen and is available on Amazon and all other bookstores. So just going a bit deeper into the contents of the book, the book looks at the origins, the history of slavery, the classification of a crime against humanity, although that predates, that classification predates the slavery itself that went on for centuries, some of the publicly available resources, information regarding the countries that actually took part and benefited from the trade and the actual potential legal case if there was one to make one for reparations. So as you can see, if you are doing it through Vigilink, the book is titled Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Legal Context of the Crime Against Humanity, which is by Esquire. So in July 2023, the Dutch King William Alexander made an emotional apology for his country's involvement in slavery. Now the Dutch as a country benefited immensely from the transatlantic trade and colonialism as did other present-day European and North American countries, an involvement that undoubtedly led to the current wealth and economic prosperity many European and North American countries enjoy, including Australia and New Zealand. However, it has taken hundreds of years to get to that point, whilst other countries have refused or have not made an apology at the point of writing in July 2023 and at the point of this podcast. The apologies are deemed too little too late and what is needed is less apologies, more compensation, less regrets, more reparations. So what is the transatlantic trade? It's widely regarded as a grave historical injustice, a crime against humanity, which requires the forced transportation of millions of African people from their homeland to the Americas and other parts of the world between the 15th and 19th centuries. Now during this horrific trade, Africans were captured, enslaved and transported under brutal conditions across the Atlantic Ocean. They were treated as property and subjected to extreme physical and psychological abuse and deprived of their basic human rights. The transatlantic trade had profound and lasting impacts on African societies as well as on the economies and cultures in the region involved. The transatlantic trade is considered a crime against humanity because it involved a systemic and widespread violation of human rights on a massive scale and its recognition has been widely acknowledged by international organizations, scholars and advocates for human rights. Now although the Atlantic slave trade predates the modern international legal system, the United Nations has rightly condemned slavery as a crime against humanity as I mentioned above, in addition to various other international conventions and treaties such as the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, which explicitly prohibits slavery under slave trade. Now acknowledging the transatlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity serves as a reminder of the importance of learning from history, promoting equality and working to prevent similar atrocities from occurring in the future. It also highlights the need for ongoing efforts to address the historical legacies of slavery, combat racism and discrimination and promote justice and reconciliation. Now going beyond apologies, reparations are long overdue. Now reparations have been considered by many as means of addressing the historical injustices and lasting impact of slavery. The reparations can take various forms. They can include financial compensation, educational initiatives, health care, access, land registration, and other targeted programs designed to address systemic inequalities and promote the well-being of affected communities. This specific nature and scope of reparations can vary depending on the context and the needs of those affected. Now advocates argue that reparations are necessary to address the deep-rooted economic, social and psychological consequences of slavery and also argue that these consequences such as generational poverty, limited opportunities and ongoing discrimination persist to this day and warrant targeted redress. However, it's important to note that discussions around reparations can be complex and controversial and critics may raise concerns about the practicability or the practicality, feasibility or potential and integral consequences of implementing reparations. There are also debates regarding who can benefit from or should be eligible as well as how to determine the appropriate methods and amounts of compensation. Now just a summary on reparations. They require an understanding of the historical context, ongoing impacts and perspectives of affected communities and meaningful dialogue and engagement are essential in order to explore potential avenues for reparations and to work towards healing, justice and equality. As a brief background, it's important to have an overview of the involvement on a country-by-country basis. We won't go into all the details but the Dutch played a significant role during their expansion and establishment of the six colonies and they were actively involved in various aspects of slave trade, both as slave traders and plantation owners. In around the 17th and 18th centuries, Dutch traders participated in transatlantic trade, capturing and transporting Africans from Western Central Africa to the Dutch colonies in America such as Suriname, Krakow and the Dutch Antilles. The Dutch-Western Union Company played a significant role in organizing and profiting from the transatlantic trade. It wasn't just the Dutch, there are other countries as well now such as Portugal, France, the UK, Spain and by also extension directly or indirectly some other African-American countries. Now, what is the definition of crimes against humanity and how does slavery come to fit into that description? So the legal definition of crimes against humanity can be found in various international legal instruments such as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and customary international law. Article 7 of the Rome Statute defines crimes against humanity as specific acts committed as part of a widespread or systemic attack directed against any civilian population. And the acts listed in the statute include murder, intentional killing of individuals, extermination which is the deliberate and widespread killing of a large number of people, enslavement which is self-evident exercise of control over individuals by describing them of their physical liberty, often through force or coercion, intentional infliction of severe physical or mental pain and suffering, rape and other forms of sexual violence, any form of sexual violence or comparable gravity. Persecution is also another form of crime against humanity which is the intentional and severe deprivation of fundamental rights based on discriminatory grounds such as race, religion, nationality or political opinion. Enforced disappearances which is the arrest, detention and abduction of individuals by the state with its authorization followed by refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or concealment of the fate or whereabouts of those persons. A clear example is the PATH Act which was the institutionalized system of racial segregation and discrimination as practiced in South Africa until 1994. And other inhumane acts such as acts that cause great suffering, serious injury to the body or mental or physical health or constitutes a grave violation of basic human rights law or basic human rights law by the individuals. So to be considered a crime against humanity these acts must be committed as part of the widespread or systemic attack directed against the civilian population which means that the acts are not isolated or random but are part of a larger plan or policy. And crimes against humanity are subject to universal jurisdiction meaning they can be prosecuted by any state regardless of where the crimes were committed or the nationality of the accused. The ICC has jurisdiction over crimes against humanity when national courts are unable or unwilling to prosecute the crimes or when the United Nations Security Council refers a situation to the court. Now it's important to note that the specific elements and definitions of crime against humanity may vary depending on the legal instrument or jurisdiction in question. So last but not least what would a legal case for reparations for the transatlantic slave trade look like? What would it require? Proponents of reparations argue that the detainees or once slaved are still experiencing the socio-economic and psychological consequences of that historical injustice and therefore should be compensated. Now to institute a legal case for reparations several key issues would need to be considered. One historical evidence, two liability, three a legal basis, four causation and damages and then have a complete picture once those all fall in place is sort of the quantum and how the form that reparation would take on a case by case basis or community by community basis. So just quickly go through all those. Historical evidence would be essential to establish a clear connection between the harm suffered by individual communities as a result of the transatlantic trade and the current conditions and this would require presenting historical evidence for the scale and impact of the slave trade as well as demonstrating the ongoing effects on descendants. I think that would be easily done and liability should be held legally responsible for reparations and be shoddy. There are multiple actors, European countries, slave traders, slave owners and institutions profited from slavery. Now determining liability would require careful examination of historical documents and legal framework. I don't think but still a very plausible prospect that can be overcome. Now the legal argument could be built on various legal principles such as international human rights law, domestic laws against racial discrimination or existing reparations precedents and it would involve demonstrating as a legal basis to demand reparation for historical injustices. I think I suppose the legal technicality there is whether the law would be applied retrospectively given that the current institutions of international law formed only around the, you know, after the second world war could apply to active alleged conduct that happened several centuries ago. Then finally causation and damages. Now establishing a causal link between the transatlantic slave trade and the current harm suffered by individuals or communities is crucial. This would require demonstrating the legacy of slavery that has had a significant, it would require demonstrating that the legacy of slavery has had a significant and ongoing impact on socioeconomic conditions, education, healthcare and other relevant aspects. And so once that is established, just a quick summary of what form the reparations would take. I briefly mentioned it in the past. So it could take various forms. Financial compensation, education initiatives, healthcare programs, land redistribution, development, mentoring, economic zones, you know, there have been reparations for specific issues. We've had the Bretton Woods Accord. We've had reparations for the crimes committed by Germany in the second world war and so forth and so forth. So there are models that could be adapted. But as often seen in public debates, reparations claims often face significant legal and political obstacles, including issues related to the status of limitation, sovereign immunity and the complexity of determining compensation. But ultimately, the pursuit of reparations for the transatlantic slave trade involves multifaceted legal, historical and ethical considerations. Different countries and communities have approached this issue in various ways, but it remains a topic of ongoing debate and exploration. Legal definitions of crime against humanity. So that's just a summary of the issue of the transatlantic slave trade, of the crime against humanity and what a case for, a legal case for reparations would look like and what form reparations would take. There's more. The book is fairly readable. It's called the Transatlantic Slave Trade and the Legal Context of the Crime Against Humanity by, it's on Amazon and all other online platforms and distributors. So there we shall leave it on this episode of the Diary of a Lawyer and we shall speak again. Thank you and goodbye. Thanks for listening.