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On Sunday September
15th, the Caribbean Community opened the first Regional Reparations
Conference at St. Vincent and the Grenadines' Victoria Park. The
Conference was mandated by the historic, unanimous, decision of CARICOM
Heads of Government in July, 2013, in Trinidad and Tobago. The Heads of
Government also requested each CARICOM Member State to set up its own
National Reparations Committee to document the effects of European
genocide against the indigenous inhabitants of the region, the slave
trade in and the enslavement of Africans, and the colonization of the
country.
The evening began
with the unprecedented singing of St. Vincent and the Grenadines'
national anthem in both English and Garifuna. The huge gathering was
welcomed by Mr. Jomo Thomas, Chair of the Reparations Committee of St.
Vincent and the Grenadines. Remarks were delivered by Dr. the Hon. Ralph
Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and by Hon.
Stephen Lashley, Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth of Barbados on behalf
of Prime Minister of Barbados, the Hon. Freundel Stuart, who is also
Chairman of the Regional Ministerial Committee on Reparations. Dr. Verene
Shepherd, Chair of the Jamaican Reparations Committee, gave the keynote
address in which she recited the names and ages of many of the victims of
the atrocities committed by the Europeans during slavery. Dr. Shepherd
also emphasized the underreported fact that African women were integrally
involved in all aspects of the resistance to slavery. Between speakers there
were poetry and drumming performances.
The evening ended with a sterling performance in support of reparations
by the legendary artist and Grammy Award Winner Hon. Bunny Wailer and his
band who embodied the slogan "Culture as a Weapon." Bunny’s
repertoire comprised of a number of songs that sunk home the message of
the plight of the black man suffering under colonial domination in a
foreign land.
The second day of the
conference started with a historical review of enslavement in the
Caribbean by Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, a leading historian on the
issue of Slavery and Reparations and Principal of the UWI Campus at Cave
Hill in Barbados. Dr. Beckles framed the task ahead by highlighting
several issues discussed in his book "Britain's Black Debt".
Dr. Beckles mentioned the importance of including the diaspora in
rectifying the effects of the European slave trade in Africans. Dr.
Beckles was able to bring out the dehumanization as well as the criminal
actions of those involved in Slavery in the Caribbean. What became
clear was the horrifying reality of the trade in Africans and further,
their enslavement in the Caribbean. It was noted by Dr. Beckles that upon
the abolition of slavery, European slave owners were paid reparations
while nothing was paid to the newly freed.
Presenters from
various countries described the composition of reparations committees in
their home countries, and the state of public opinion on the issue.
Some key areas covered related to the middle passage, deportation,
wealth generated through slavery, and the depopulation and
underdevelopment of Africa and the Caribbean as a result of enslavement.
It was mentioned that
CARICOM should mandate reparations education in schools'
curriculum. Recognition was also given to past reparations
initiatives, such as the work done by the Rastafari Movement and some
major reparations conferences that have occurred in Nigeria, Washington
DC, and Barbados.
On the third and
final day of the Conference, a structure was proposed for the regional
Commission. It was agreed that the body would be led by a Chairman and
three Vice Chairs with responsibility for certain key tasks. Professor
Hilary Beckles was elected as Chairperson of the CARICOM Regional
Reparations Commission. Vice Chairs are Jomo Thomas, St. Vincent and the
Grenadines ( responsible for inter-governmental relations), Dr. Verene
Shepherd, Jamaica ( research), and Ahmad Zunder, Suriname,
(mobilization).
The CARICOM
Reparations Commission was constituted to achieve the following aims and
objectives:
- Establish
the moral, ethical and legal case for the payment of Reparations by
the Governments of all the former colonial powers and the relevant
institutions in those countries, to the nations and people of the
Caribbean Community for the Crimes against Humanity of Native
Genocide, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and a racialised system of
chattel Slavery;
- Advise and
make recommendations for coordinated CARICOM action by the Prime
Ministerial Sub-Committee on Reparations;
- Coordinate
and support the work of National Reparations Commissions and Task
Forces and encourage the development of Commissions in those
countries that have not yet established national bodies;
- Receive
reports from National Reparations Commissions;
- Develop
and implement a regional strategy to pursue Reparations, including
the following actions:
- Coordinate and/or undertake relevant historical
research at the national, regional and international levels;
- Coordinate and/or undertake legal research to
inform case preparation and litigation strategies;
- Coordinate national and regional public
education campaigns;
- Coordinate and/or conduct national and regional
public consultations on Reparations;
- Develop and recommend diplomatic strategies to
advance the case for Reparations in multilateral institutions such
as the United Nations, African Union, CELAC and with other
supportive governments;
- Identify and recommend the appointment of
eminent spokespersons and champions for the cause of Reparations
among artists, attorneys, scholars, indigenous peoples,
Rastafarians, youth, women and politicians;
- Engaging and partnering with national and
regional civil society organizations involved in the Reparations
Movement, especially the Rastafarian and Pan Africanist formations
of the Caribbean;
- Develop
and recommend decisive political action at the national and regional
levels through Parliamentary debates and resolutions and national,
regional and international popular mobilization;
- Conduct
consultations to develop proposals on appropriate forms of redress
through reparative programmes and projects;
- Coordinate
and/or undertake the preparation of a detailed brief on the cost of
the damages and current manifestations of such damage on indigenous
people and their descendants and on enslaved Africans and their
descendants, in the following and other relevant areas:
- Economic (including land deprivation)
- Social, Cultural and Psychological
- Spiritual and Religious
- Demographic
- Medical
- Educational
Assume the
responsibility for the preparation and presentation of the legal case for
Reparations and highlight the special case of Reparations for Haiti;
Serve as a quick
response mechanism and develop a pro-active media campaign to raise public
awareness and canvas support.
There were also
presentations and discussions on legal strategies for a successful
reparations claim. The legal presentation was done by the UK law
firm of Leigh Day & Co. and it was evident that this effort would require
a regional consortium of experts in law, research and academia. It was
also emphasized that any legal effort must be coupled with the
mobilization of our people and an intensification of the political and
diplomatic outreach that has already begun.
It should also be
noted that in addition to the governmental deliberation and decisions,
the representatives of civil society organizations held their own caucus
and made the historic decision to establish a Pan-Caribbean Civil Society
Reparations Network. The network was mandated to mobilize the
Caribbean people in support of the quest for reparations, and to
collaborate with and support the work of the National Reparations
Committees and the CARICOM Regional Commission.
Participants
considered that the conference was the first step in a series of
conferences and workshops that were necessary to continue the reparations
effort. It was agreed that a website should be created as a focal point
for ensuring that information on the work of the Regional Commission and
national committees/task forces was made readily available. It was
further agreed that national committees/task forces would create facebook
pages to highlight the progress of their work.
The Conference ended
with a resolve to have a second follow-up conference within a reasonable
time-frame to ensure that the momentum started in St. Vincent and the
Grenadines could be accelerated.
What was absolutely
clear was that not since the Caribbean struggles for independence has the
Region embarked on a journey of such magnitude and import for the future
development of the people and region!
As we go forward,
local committees have been urged to start the education and mobilization
process in their own countries. For those who have not yet set up
reparations committees they are being urged to do so quickly and to lean
on the experiences of those who have already done so in the interest of
efficiency and speed.
The Prime Ministerial
Committee on reparations will quickly ratify the terms of reference
adopted by the Regional Reparations Commission so that this commission
can move ahead with the task that has been set before it.
It is hoped that the
work in all countries would be advanced enough by the end of this year to
enable a letter to be sent to the European countries being targeted for
reparations to at least seek to begin a conversation on the issue with
them.
The Conference had
representatives from 12 CARICOM countries namely: Antigua and Barbuda,
Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and
Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad
and Tobago. There were also representatives from Guadeloupe, Martinique,
US Virgin Islands, the UK, Canada, the United States and the
Netherlands.
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