According to The Telegraph, the African Union member states have begun active preparations for an unprecedented legal battle against former colonial powers. The main goal of this ambitious initiative is to achieve official compensation for centuries of slavery and colonial rule, using recent international legal precedents.
The strategy of African leaders draws inspiration from the successful actions of Mauritius, which achieved the transfer of the Chagos Islands under its jurisdiction. This became possible after a ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, which mandated that the United Kingdom end its administration of the archipelago. Currently, expert groups from the AU in Lusaka are working on a plan that will allow the use of similar UN mechanisms to recognize the transatlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity and to pressure European countries for reparations.
According to sources, the compensation amounts could be in the trillions of pounds sterling. Lawyers suggest that actual payments could take forms such as debt forgiveness, funding for development projects, or the establishment of economic partnerships along with official apologies. The initiative is directed not only against the United Kingdom but also against France, Spain, and Portugal.
The African initiative also plans to unite with the Caribbean Community (Caricom), which has long been demanding reparations for "genocide and racial apartheid." Supporters of the lawsuit emphasize that legal precedents already exist: Germany has paid reparations for the Holocaust, and the UK has previously compensated victims of torture during the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya. Moreover, the current Attorney General of the UK, Richard Hermer, has previously acted as an advocate in colonial compensation cases.
This issue is expected to be brought to the international stage on March 25, the day of remembrance for the victims of slavery. Ghana's President John Mahama intends to present a resolution to the UN declaring the slave trade the greatest crime in human history. As the African Union comprises 55 countries, their collective voting could significantly influence obtaining an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, effectively depriving former metropolises of legal grounds to refuse negotiations.
