UN Declares Slave Trade "Gravest Crime" as US, Israel & Argentina Vote Against

The UN General Assembly vote marks a significant political reframing of the transatlantic slave trade, with the resolution, passed on Wednesday with 123 votes in favor, 3 against and 52 abstentions.

The resolution defines the transatlantic chattel slave trade as the “gravest crime against humanity” and calls for reparatory justice. The United States, Israel and Argentina were the only three countries to vote against it while the UK and multiple EU states abstained.

Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama, who proposed the measure, said: “Let it be recorded that when history beckoned, we did what was right for the memory of millions who suffered the indignity of slavery.”

Opposition and abstentions reflected differing interpretations of historical accountability. The UK’s representative, James Kariuki, said governments should not “create a hierarchy of historical atrocities,” arguing that “no single set of atrocities should be regarded as more or less significant.”

The resolution is not legally binding but is designed to establish “political recognition at the highest level,” according to experts involved in its drafting.

The initiative builds on coordinated efforts by the African Union (AU) and Caribbean Community (Caricom), both of which backed the resolution. The AU, representing 55 states, has been developing a unified framework for reparations, including financial compensation, formal apologies and policy reforms.

AU leaders endorsed the proposal at their 39th summit, strengthening its diplomatic momentum ahead of the UN vote.

The resolution references a system that, over four centuries, saw more than 15 million Africans enslaved and transported across the Atlantic by seven European nations. The practice’s scale led 18th and 19th century abolitionists to coin the term “crime against humanity.”

Kyeretwie Osei of the AU said the aim was to “properly situate that particular chapter in history,” describing it as a “world-breaking” system that shaped subsequent global inequalities.

The vote coincides with renewed debate over historical narratives. Mahama warned of “the erasure” of Black history in the United States, stating such trends are “slowly normalising the erasure.”

Parallel advocacy continues at national levels, including a UK petition calling for a formal apology for slavery and colonialism.

Analysts note that the resolution’s passage may accelerate global discussions on reparatory justice despite resistance from some Western governments.