{"id":95339,"date":"2026-03-28T10:14:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T10:14:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/uncategorized\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity"},"modified":"2026-03-29T07:30:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T07:30:16","slug":"enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity","title":{"rendered":"Enslavement of Africans is \u2018Gravest Crime against Humanity\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. <\/strong> <\/span>The United Nations General Assembly has voted to recognise the enslavement of Africans during the transatlantic slave trade as \u201cthe gravest crime against humanity\u201d, a move advocates hope will pave the way for healing and justice.<\/b><\/p>\n

The resolution \u2013 proposed by Ghana \u2013 called for this designation, while also urging UN member states to consider apologising for the slave trade and contributing to a reparations fund. It does not mention a specific amount of money.<\/p>\n

The proposal was adopted with 123 votes in favour and three against \u2013 the United States, Israel and Argentina.<\/p>\n

Fifty-two countries abstained, including the United Kingdom and European Union member states.<\/p>\n

Countries like the UK have long rejected calls to pay reparations, saying today\u2019s institutions cannot be held responsible for past wrongs.<\/p>\n

Unlike UN Security Council resolutions, those from the General Assembly are not legally binding, though they carry the weight of global opinion.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet it be recorded that when history beckoned, we did what was right for the memory of the millions who suffered the indignity of the slave trade and those who continue to suffer racial discrimination,\u201d Ghana\u2019s President John Mahama told the assembly ahead of the vote.<\/p>\n

\u201dThe adoption of this resolution serves as a safeguard against forgetting. It also challenges the enduring scars of slavery,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Earlier, his foreign minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, told the BBC\u2019s Newsday programme: \u201cWe are demanding compensation \u2013 and let us be clear, African leaders are not asking for money for themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want justice for the victims and causes to be supported, educational and endowment funds, skills training funds.\u201d<\/p>\n

The campaign for reparations has gained significant momentum in recent years \u2013 \u201creparatory justice\u201d was the African Union\u2019s official theme for 2025 and Commonwealth leaders have jointly called for dialogue on the matter.<\/p>\n

Ablakwa also said that, with the resolution, Ghana was not ranking its pain above anyone else\u2019s, but simply documenting a historical fact.<\/p>\n

Between 1500 and 1800, around 12-15 million people were captured in Africa and taken to the Americas where they were forced to work as slaves. It is estimated that over two million people died on the journey.<\/p>\n

Former Gambian president Yahya Jammeh took a leading role to ensure the UN pass the resolution.<\/p>\n

Find more news and analyses on Gambia<\/span> on the Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Gambia. The United Nations General Assembly has voted to recognise the enslavement of Africans during the transatlantic slave trade as \u201cthe gravest crime against humanity\u201d, a move advocates hope will pave the way for healing and justice. The resolution \u2013 proposed by Ghana \u2013 called for this designation, while also urging UN member […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":95338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[260],"class_list":["post-95339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-gambia"],"yoast_head":"\nEnslavement of Africans is \u2018Gravest Crime against Humanity\u2019 - Gambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag"> Africa-Press - Gambia. The United Nations General As ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Enslavement of Africans is \u2018Gravest Crime against Humanity\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"-article-header-tag"> Africa-Press - Gambia. The United Nations General As ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-28T10:14:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-29T07:30:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/03\/sm_1774696033.943593.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Enslavement of Africans is \u2018Gravest Crime against Humanity\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-28T10:14:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-29T07:30:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity\"},\"wordCount\":392,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/03\/sm_1774696033.943593.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity\",\"name\":\"Enslavement of Africans is \u2018Gravest Crime against Humanity\u2019 - Gambia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/03\/sm_1774696033.943593.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-28T10:14:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-29T07:30:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"-article-header-tag\\\"> Africa-Press - Gambia. The United Nations General As ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/03\/sm_1774696033.943593.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/03\/sm_1774696033.943593.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Enslavement of Africans is \u2018Gravest Crime against Humanity\u2019\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Enslavement of Africans is \u2018Gravest Crime against Humanity\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/\",\"name\":\"Gambia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Enslavement of Africans is \u2018Gravest Crime against Humanity\u2019 - Gambia","description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Gambia. The United Nations General As ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Enslavement of Africans is \u2018Gravest Crime against Humanity\u2019","og_description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Gambia. The United Nations General As ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity","og_site_name":"Gambia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-03-28T10:14:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-29T07:30:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/03\/sm_1774696033.943593.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Enslavement of Africans is \u2018Gravest Crime against Humanity\u2019","datePublished":"2026-03-28T10:14:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-29T07:30:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity"},"wordCount":392,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/03\/sm_1774696033.943593.jpg","keywords":["Gambia"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity","name":"Enslavement of Africans is \u2018Gravest Crime against Humanity\u2019 - Gambia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/03\/sm_1774696033.943593.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-28T10:14:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-29T07:30:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"-article-header-tag\"> Africa-Press - Gambia. The United Nations General As ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/03\/sm_1774696033.943593.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/gambia\/sites\/19\/2026\/03\/sm_1774696033.943593.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"caption":"Enslavement of Africans is \u2018Gravest Crime against Humanity\u2019"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/all-news\/enslavement-of-africans-is-gravest-crime-against-humanity#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Enslavement of Africans is \u2018Gravest Crime against Humanity\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/","name":"Gambia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95339"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95365,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95339\/revisions\/95365"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/gambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}