UN General Assembly: Slavery as the Greatest Crime Against Humanity

UN Headquarters (ANTARA) - The UN General Assembly has agreed to recognise slavery as the “greatest crime against humanity” following the passage of a related resolution, with the United States rejecting it.

On Wednesday (25/3), the UN General Assembly voted on draft Resolution A/RES/80/250 on the “declaration of the African slave trade and racial slavery against Africans as the greatest crime against humanity”, proposed by Ghana.

The resolution was passed with 123 votes in favour, 52 abstentions, and 3 countries against. Meanwhile, 15 other countries did not participate in the vote.

The three countries that rejected the resolution were the United States, Israel, and Argentina.

Abstentions came from countries with a history of involvement in the Atlantic slave trade, such as Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

Canada and Japan also abstained, while China and Russia supported the resolution.

The resolution also calls for reparations to be provided to Africans who were victims of slavery and their descendants.

After the vote concluded, the US representative at the UN explained that they rejected the draft resolution on the grounds that the text was “highly problematic in various aspects”.

The US representative at the UN stated that the resolution would “clearly” create legal problems, and they also warned that confusion could arise later regarding who would receive reparations for past slavery.

Source: Sputnik