The thirty-fourth summit of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community was held in Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, from 4 to 6 July 2013 with the attendance of a dozen delegations. During the summit, the proposal of the Prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda Baldwin Spencer to promote actions to monitor the reparations for the genocide of the native people and slavery was endorsed by the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community.
By approving actions to monitor the reparations for the genocide of the native people and the slavery, the members of CARICOM decided to set up some "national reparations committees" in each member State and the creation of a " CARICOM reparation Commission" composed of the chairmen of the national committees. The Heads of Government of Barbados (chairman), Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, Haiti, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago will provide a political supervision.
The first Regional Conference on Reparations was held in Kingstown, the capital of Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, from September 15 to 17, 2013 with the attendance of twelve Caribbean nations and the presence of representatives from the UK, France, the Netherlands, the United States and Canada. The conference outlined the objectives of the "regional reparations Commission", proposed the relating offices that will be ratified by the Heads of Government of CARICOM, decided to create a web site of the Regional Commission and urged for setting up some national committees where they do not exist yet.
The general Debate of the 68th session of the UN General Assembly was held from September 24 to October 1, 2013 in New York; during the debate the delegates of Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago demanded reparations for the genocide of the native people and slavery. In the final press conference of the President of the General Assembly the request for reparations of CARICOM was evoked as well.
The twenty-fifth inter-sessional meeting of the heads of government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was held in Buccament, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, from 10-11 March 2014 with the attendance of a dozen delegations. During the meeting the participants examined the progress of the efforts in favor of reparations for the genocide of the native people and slavery at the national and regional level. The "Regional Reparations Commission" that is made up of the chairmen of the national Commissions, then submitted the draft of the "Caribbean Reparatory Justice Programme" that was accepted as the basis for further actions about reparations.
The "Caribbean Reparatory Justice Programme" recognizes the role and status of the European governments in this regard, as legal entities that set out the framework for the development and support to these crimes against humanity. Therefore it invites the former colonizers to participate in order to prepare the victims for full admission with dignity into the citizenry of the global community sketching a path of reconciliation, truth and justice for the victims and their descendants in ten points: full formal apology, repatriation, indigenous peoples development program, cultural institutions, public health crisis, illiteracy eradication, African knowledge program, psychological rehabilitation, technology transfer and debt cancellation.
The thirty-fifth meeting of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community took place from 1 to July 4, 2014 in Dickenson Bay, Antigua and Barbuda, with the participation of a dozen delegations. During the meeting the Caribbean nations adopted the "Caribbean reparatory justice Program" proposed on last March by the CARICOM Reparations Commission at the twenty-fifth inter-sessional meeting of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community. The Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community then decided to write to the Governments of the former colonizing European nations (the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark) inviting them to a Conference on reparations scheduled for late 2014 - early 2015 and to submit their request for reparations to the general Debate of the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The general Debate of the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly was held in New York from 24 to September 30, 2014. During the Debate some delegates from Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago demanded reparations for the genocide of the native people and slavery; this request was also supported by the delegate of Cuba. The request was submitted for the first time last year during the general debate of the 68th session of the United Nations general Assembly.
The thirteenth summit of Heads of State and Government of the Bolivarian Alliance for the peoples of our America – Peoples' Trade Treaty was held in La Habana, the capital of Cuba, on December 14, 2014 with the attendance of fifteen delegations. The summit ended with the approval of the final declaration, the admission of Grenada and Saint Kitts and Nevis as new members and the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of ALBA-TCP. At paragraph 24 of the final declaration members agreed [ ... ] to emphasize the importance that ALBA-TCP gives to the reparation of the damages caused by the genocide against the native peoples and slavery in the Caribbean and to foster the start of a dialog on reparations with the European countries closely involved in the genocide against the native peoples is in the possession of slaves, to deal with the consequences of these crimes against humanity. [ ... ]
The fourth summit of Heads of State and Government of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States was held in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, on January 27, 2016 with the attendance of thirty-three delegations. The summit ended with the approval of the political declaration and the 2016 action plan. At paragraph 64 of the political declaration the members agreed to [...] recognize, once again, that slavery and the slave trade were atrocious crimes in the history of humanity; hence, we welcome CARICOM’s initiative for the creation of the Reparations Commission of the Caribbean Community and applaud the efforts of this Commission to redress the injustices of history [...], while at paragraph People of african descent of the 2016 action plan the members agreed to [...] continue efforts and strengthen cooperation among Member States to implement the Decade of the Latin American and Caribbean People of African Descent Action Plan [...].
On June 4, 2016 the seventh Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) was held in La Havana, the capital of Cuba, with the attendance of thirty-two delegations. At paragraph 7 of Havana Declaration the ACS [...] recognizes that slavery and the slave trade were atrocious crimes against humanity, reaffirms the Durban Declaration, in particular, the importance of establishing compensatory and reparatory effective resources and measures, among others, at the national, regional and international levels in order to cope with the persistent effects of the slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, and welcomes CARICOM's initiative for the creation of the Reparations Commission of the Caribbean Community, and praises the efforts of said commission to correct such injustices [...].
From 4 to July 6, 2017 was held in Grand Anse, Grenada, the thirty-eighth Summit of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community with the participation of about twenty delegations. During the meeting the Caribbean Nations noted responses to the letters sent to European leaders and mandated the CARICOM Reparations Commission to coordinate the preparation of a diplomatic, communicative and training strategy to advance the reparations claim.
On October 10, 2017 in Mona, Jamaica, the University of the West Indies (UWI) officially launched the Centre for Reparation Research (CRR) to support the movement of the Caribbean Community, build awareness and conduct research to advance the claim for reparations. The first activity of the CRR, directed by Professor Verene Shepherd, was a symposium organized the next day during which the President of the "CARICOM Reparations Commission" Hilary Beckles has renewed the call for reparations estimating in at least 76 billion pounds the compensation from the former colonizers.
In recent years pressure has increased on the Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to drop the request for reparations for the genocide of the native people and the slavery with refusals and boycotts by the colonizers (France, United Kingdom, United States, etc.), but despite this there have been many initiatives.
On February 21, 2018 in Kingston, Jamaica, the President of the "CARICOM Reparations Commission" Hilary Beckles denounced the scandalous news that the British Government has finished repaying only in 2015 a loan of 20 million of pounds at the time (about 76 billion of pounds today) to compensate the slavers (and not the slaves!) following the abolition of slavery in 1834.
On May 10, 2018 in Caracas, Venezuela, the President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro presided over the World Day for the Rights of Peoples of African Descent entitled Reparations: From Resistance to Action by initiating a systematic reflection on the theme of reparations.
On September 27, 2018 in New York during the General Debate of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves said that [...] our shared history of struggle against colonial oppression and exploitation informs [...] our continuing pursuit of reparatory justice for the victims of native genocide and slavery [...].
On June 10, 2019 in Kingston, Jamaica, the Vice-President of the "CARICOM Reparations Commission" Verene Shepherd announced the expansion of the list of countries to be targeted for reparations to Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, Norway, Hanse Towns (Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, etc.), Brandenburg (Germany) and the Duchy of Courland (Latvia).
On September 27, 2019 in New York during the General Debate of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne said that [...] underdevelopment and financial vulnerability were created by centuries of exploitation in slavery and bound-labour for which no compensation was made. Relevant European nations should provide reparations to compensate for their development on the backs of our people [...].
On October 10, 2019 in Bolans, Antigua and Barbuda, during the symposium on Western Banking, Colonialism and Reparations organized by the CARICOM the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne proposed a 1% global annual tax against the 1% richest people to cope with the pockets of poverty in the former colonizers countries and with reparations in the former colonized countries.
On October 23, 2019 in Dakar, Senegal, during the African Regional Meeting on the International Decade for People of African Descent organized by the United Nations the Ambassador of Barbados to CARICOM, David Comissiong, contextualized and summarized the request for reparations for the genocide of the native people and the slavery launched in 2013.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic on September 26, 2020 during the General Debate of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves said that [...] the international campaign for reparatory justice, widely promoted by governments across our Caribbean Community and by social activists within the industrialized metropoles, must form part of any serious efforts to achieve the sustainable development agenda […].
On November 3, 2020 during the "Peacebuilding and sustaining peace" debate organized by the United Nations Security Council the President of the "CARICOM Reparations Commission" Hilary Beckles [...] called on the Council to acknowledge the global reparatory movement, adding that while most crimes against humanity were committed in past, the current century will be one of peace and justice […].
On September 7, 2021 the first CARICOM - Africa summit was held during which [...] the Heads of State and Government agreed to participate fully in the High Level meeting of the UN General Assembly later this month to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the 2001 UN World Conference Against Racism, and to jointly use that event to advance the claim for reparations within the processes of the United Nations […].
On November 30, 2021 the transition of Barbados to a republic by removing Elizabeth II as Head of State after nearly four hundred years of British colonization revived calls for reparations, while on January 25, 2022 the President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro created the Presidential Commission for Historical Truth, Justice and Reparation of Colonial Rule and its Consequences in Venezuela. In March and April 2022 the visits of the heirs to the throne were the subject of protests and requests for reparations in Belize, Jamaica, Bahamas, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda and Saint Lucia.
For further information:
We must not apologize for reparations demands
Pan-African Reparations Coalition writes to CARICOM
Barbados PM writes Britain on reparation on behalf of CARICOM
CARICOM Reparations Relay launched in Barbados
Reparations important to Barbados
National Reparations Committees of CARICOM
The slave trade made Scotland rich. Now we must pay our blood-soaked debts
Europe replies to demand for reparations
Caribbean ups reparations pressure on Europe
Caribbean Nations Accuse Europe of ‘The Greatest Crime Against Humanity Known to Humankind'
REPARATIONS MADE SIMPLE or almost everybody’s guide to reparations
Descendants of Indian Immigrants: A Case for Reparatory Justice!
Culture Minister Receives Reparations Report
Awakening African consciousness
Reparations, Black History Month…
The UWI to Receive Ambassador Dudley Thompson’s Papers
Why August 23 is a more important to Caribbean History than Emancipation Day
