France, one of the great colonial powers, is the first nation to have recognized slavery as a "crime against humanity."
On May 21st 2001 the French parliament adopts Act 2001-434, known as "Taubira's Law" from the name of the presenter, with which the French Republic recognizes both the transatlantic and Indian Ocean Negro slave trade, on the one hand, and slavery itself, on the other, that were practiced from the 15th century, in the Americas, the Caribbean, in Indian Ocean and Europe against African, Amerindian, Malagasy and Indian populations, as constituting crimes against humanity.
For further information:
Le Comité National pour la Mémoire & l’Histoire de l’Esclavage
Sarkozy calls "first crimes against humanity" Trafficking and Slavery
While François Hollande inaugurates the ACTe Memorial, we call for a reparations policy
