Brazil joins Ghana's UN campaign to declare slave trade the 'gravest crime against humanity'

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva pledged support for John Dramani Mahama's campaign at the United Nations to have the transatlantic slave trade formally recognised as the gravest crime against humanity on Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Colombia. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the President of Brazil, made this known during discussions with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, on the sidelines of the CELAC-Africa Summit.

President Mahama is a leading advocate for African reparations, demanding justice for slavery and colonialism's legacies. He leads a global campaign for reparatory justice at the UN. As the African Union's appointed Champion for Reparations, he is driving a unified continental effort to pursue restitution from Western nations, framing it as a moral necessity for dignity, truth, and economic development rather than just a financial transaction. This is part of efforts to secure recognition of the transatlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity, a milestone advocates say is essential for addressing the enduring legacy of slavery. The move is also expected to strengthen growing international backing for Ghana's initiative, which seeks to advance the global conversation on reparatory justice.

President Mahama is scheduled to table a historic resolution at the United Nations General Assembly seeking to declare the Transatlantic Slave Trade as the gravest crime against humanity on March 25, 2026. The draft resolution, titled "Declaration of the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialised Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime Against Humanity", is scheduled for consideration and adoption by the UN General Assembly on a date that coincides with the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.