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UN human rights chief says nations should pay reparations for slavery

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 Wednesday, Jun 17th 2020| 332 The UN's human rights chief today urged countries to confront the legacy of slavery and colonialism and to make amends for 'centuries of violence and discrimination' through reparations.Addressing an urgent debate on racism and police brutality at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Michelle Bachelet called on countries to examine their pasts and to strive to better understand the scope of continuing 'systemic discrimination'.She pointed to the 'gratuitous brutality' on display in the killing of . Those in favour of slavery reparations argue that financial compensation should be made to the descendants of slaves for past injustices and continuing inequality.The concept remains only hypothetical and the most prominent demands for reparations have been made in the US and Britain. Demands for reparations are largely on behalf of Africans who were enslaved and trafficked to the Americas and West Indies during the transatlantic slave trade. African-American lawyer and activist Randall Robinson stated in 1999 that America's history of race riots, lynching, and institutional discrimination have 'resulted in $1.4 trillion in losses for African Americans'. In the US, only one major bill demanding slavery reparations has been proposed.  Former Democratic Rep. John Conyers Jr. unsuccessfully proposed the 'Commission to Study Reparation Proposals for African Americans Act' every year from 1989 until his resignation in 2017.His bill recommends that a special commission be formed to investigate the 'impact of slavery on the social, political and economic life of our nation'. Last June, a landmark hearing on reparations was held on Juneteenth at Capitol Hill, and saw writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and actor Danny Glover testify before the House panel as it considered legislation to establish a commission to investigate the consequences and impacts of slavery.  Rep. Tulsi Gabbard and Rep. Bernie Saunders are both co-sponsors of H.R.40, the only piece of legislation in Congress to study and develop reparations proposals. US Senator Kamala Harris declared last year that she supports reparations.  In 2019, a AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research Poll found that 29% of Americans say the government should pay cash reparations, and there was divided opinion among people of different ethnic backgrounds. Just 15% of white participants supported the idea of the US government paying reparations to the descendants of enslaved black people. Meanwhile 75% of black participants were in favour of the idea, while 44% of Hispanics were in favour. In the UK, the Slave Compensation Act of 1837 saw substantial money paid by the government to former slave owners, but nothing to the newly liberated people. In 2004, the British government refused a demand from a coalition of the Rastafari movement and the Berber Moors to pay 72.5 billion pounds to resettle 500,000 Jamaican Rastafarians in Africa. The UK government justified its decision by saying it could not be held accountable for wrongs in past centuries.  In 2006, then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair made an apology for Britain's role in the African slavery trade, but it was denounced by African rights activists as 'empty rhetoric'. In 2007, the then-Mayor of London Ken Livingstone pointed to the city's financial district as he apologised for London's role in the slave trade, saying: 'You can look across there to see the institutions that still have the benefit of the wealth they created from slavery.' Floyd was a 46-year-old black man who died in Minneapolis on May 25 after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes.The officer, Derek Chauvin, has since been charged with second-degree murder. He was initially charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, and still faces those two charges. This symbol of 'systemic racism... has become emblematic of the excessive use of disproportionate force by law enforcement, against people of African descent, against people of colour, and against indigenous peoples and racial and ethnic minorities in many countries across the globe,' she said.'Behind today's racial violence, systemic racism and discriminatory policing lies the failure to acknowledge and confront the legacy of the slave trade and colonialism,' she said.She stressed the need to 'make amends for centuries of violence and discrimination, including through formal apologies, truth-telling processes, and reparations in various forms.'Wednesday's urgent council debate was called in response to Floyd's killing. His death was caught on amateur video, sparking worldwide demands to address systemic racism in the United States and around the world.George Floyd's brother, Philonise Floyd, called on the United Nations to set up an independent commission to investigate the killings of African Americans by police. He made his speech via video message during the meeting.'I am my brother's keeper,' he said. 'You, at the United Nations, are your brothers and sisters keepers in America, and you have the power to help us get justice for my brother... I'm asking you to help him.'I'm asking you to help me. I'm asking you to help us black people in America. 'I hope that you will consider establishing an independent commission of inquiry to investigate police killings of black people in America, and the violence against peaceful protesters.' His brother denounced police crackdowns on demonstrators.'When people dared to raise their voice and protest for my brother they were tear-gassed, run over with police vehicles,' he said.Several people had lost eyes and suffered brain damage from rubber bullets, Floyd told the council.'When people raise their voices to protest the treatment of black people in America they are silenced. 'They are shot and killed,' he added.Floyd said his brother 'is one of the many black men and women that have been murdered by police.'The sad truth is that the case is not unique,' he said. 'The way you saw my brother tortured and murdered on camera is the way black people are treated by police in America.'African countries are calling for the council to ask Bachelet and other UN rights experts to investigate racism and policy brutality in the US, but potential support for their draft resolution is unclear.The US itself withdrew from the council two years ago, but a number of its allies are uncomfortable with the country being singled out in the text, according to observers of the process.Bachelet herself did not speak out specifically in favour of the draft resolution. However, she did stress the need for 'decisive reforms'.She insisted on the importance of making clear that 'black lives matter. Indigenous lives matter. 'The lives of people of colour matter.''All human beings are born equal in dignity and rights: that is what this Council, like my office, stands for.'   Those in favour of slavery reparations argue that financial compensation should be made to the descendants of slaves for past injustices and continuing inequality.The concept remains only hypothetical. The most prominent demands for reparations have been made in the US and Britain. Share what you thinkThe comments below have been moderated in advance.The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.Post comment to your Facebook TimelineBy posting your comment you agree to our .Submit CommentClearDo you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. NoYesDo you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline?Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usualWe will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. 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 Wednesday, Jun 17th 2020| 332 The UN's human rights chief today urged countries to confront the legacy of slavery and colonialism and to make amends for 'centuries of violence and discrimination' through reparations.Addressing an urgent debate on racism and police brutality at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Michelle Bachelet called on countries to examine their pasts and to strive to better understand the scope of continuing 'systemic discrimination'.She pointed to the 'gratuitous brutality' on display in the killing of . Those in favour of slavery reparations argue that financial...

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