UN General Assembly Designates Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade as Gravest Crime Against Humanity

The United Nations General Assembly voted on March 25, 2026, to designate the transatlantic African slave trade as the "gravest crime against humanity," with the resolution passing by 123 votes in favor, three against, and 52 abstentions. Ghana submitted the resolution, which acknowledges the trade's scale, duration, cruelty, and systematic nature, as well as its consequences that persist to the present day. The United States, Israel, and Argentina cast the three opposing votes, while the United Kingdom and EU member states abstained. The resolution is non-binding but calls on nations involved in the slave trade to engage in restorative justice and opens the path toward discussions on reparations for descendants of enslaved people.

123 (votes in favor) — UN member states supporting the slave trade resolution

In favor: 123, Abstentions: 52, Against: 3

The transatlantic slave trade, which lasted from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century, resulted in the kidnapping and forced sale of at least 12.5 million Africans, according to the source articles. Several institutions, including the European Union, had previously concluded that transatlantic slavery constituted a crime against humanity. The African Union, comprising 55 member states, put forward a common vision on reparations in the year preceding this vote, also calling for the return of stolen art. The Dutch government offered formal apologies in 2022 for the role of the Dutch state in the history of slavery, even as the Netherlands abstained from the current resolution.

Mahama and Guterres hail vote as step toward healing Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama traveled to UN headquarters in New York to personally support the vote, underscoring Ghana's leading role in pushing the resolution through the General Assembly. Mahama framed the adoption as a moment of collective reckoning.

„Today, we come together in solemn solidarity to affirm truth and pursue a route to healing and reparative justice. The adoption of this resolution serves as a safeguard against forgetting.” — John Dramani Mahama via France 24

UN Secretary-General António Guterres addressed the moral and historical weight of the trade in his remarks to the assembly. Guterres described how those who profited from slavery constructed a racist ideology to justify the practice.

„The transatlantic slave trade was a crime against humanity that struck at the core of personhood, broke up families and devastated communities.” — António Guterres via France 24

Ghanaian Foreign Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, speaking a day before the vote, dismissed criticism that the resolution sought to rank human suffering, and alleged that some nations had refused to acknowledge their crimes. He named the Europeans and the United States as the perpetrators of the trade and called on all of them to formally apologize to Africa and to people of African descent.

US calls text "highly problematic," EU cites retroactive law concerns The United States, one of only three countries to vote against the resolution, offered pointed objections to both its legal framing and its structure. US Ambassador Dan Negrea stated that the United States does not recognize a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs that were not illegal under international law at the time they occurred.

„The United States also strongly objects to the resolution's attempt to rank crimes against humanity in any type of hierarchy.” — Dan Negrea via France 24

The EU representative, Gabriella Michaelidou, said the bloc would have supported a resolution emphasizing the scale of the atrocity but cited "legal and factual" objections, specifically the retroactive application of international law as a central concern. France's representative Sylvain Fournel warned that the resolution risked pitting historical tragedies against each other in a way that could harm the memory of victims of other atrocities. Britain advanced similar arguments while acknowledging the wrongs of slavery. Critics in several Western countries, including the Netherlands, have argued more broadly that states should not be held responsible for historical injustices committed by earlier generations, even as the Dutch government itself formally apologized for its own role in slavery four years before this vote.

African Union's reparations push gains symbolic momentum The resolution goes beyond simple acknowledgment and asks nations involved in the slave trade to engage in restorative justice, also highlighting the legacy of slavery through what it describes as the persistence of racial discrimination and neo-colonialism in contemporary society. The African Union, whose 55 member states have long championed the reparations cause, had already put forward a unified vision of what reparations could look like in the period before the vote, including calls for the return of stolen art. Ghana has been among the most vocal advocates for the resolution, arguing that the consequences of the trade remain visible and measurable in affected communities today. While the resolution carries no legal force, advocates described the vote as a first step toward formal apologies and structured reparations discussions. The adoption was met with applause in the General Assembly hall, reflecting the broad support among member states from the Global South even as Western nations remained divided or opposed.