DURBAN--The issue of slavery
and reparations will simply not go away from
the World Conference against Racism (WCAR). It
dominated the proceedings of the Plenary on Sunday
and Monday morning, as a long line of ministers,
mostly from Africa and the Caribbean, blamed
it for the problems of poverty and underdevelopment
facing their countries. They also demanded some
form of compensation for slavery and colonialism.
In a speech that was
repeatedly applauded, Hilary Beckles, Pro-Vice Chancellor
of the University
of the West Indies, speaking on behalf of Barbados,
said the Caribbean was the "site of one of the
worst crimes against humankind." Enslaved Africans
became the majority of the population. Of the 15 million
slaves that were transported to the Americas, over
40 percent were sent to the Caribbean, ten percent
to the US and the rest mostly to Brazil, he said.
"We do not accept the notion that this past
is remote. For us, this past is the present." He
stressed that "the cycle of shame and guilt" was
still with them and that "our divisive past
continues to tear our society." However, this
should not deter them from moving forward. With
this aim in view, a "Committee for Reconciliation" has
been established in Barbados. Beckles also called
for reparations asking rhetorically, "Was
compensation not given to slave-owners, following
the abolition of slavery? Slaves got nothing."
Echoing similar sentiments, the High Commissioner
of Belize to the United Kingdom, Assad Shoman,
said it was shameful that an excuse was being made
that slavery was legal at the time and that those
who had suffered were now dead. Those who benefited
are still around, he added.
Earlier, both Ernest
Tjriange, Namibia's Minister of Justice and Tanzania's
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Jakaya Kikwete, called for the establishment of
an international compensation scheme for victims
of the slave trade. Kikwete said that the countries
that benefited from it "should acknowledge
responsibility for their past injustices, express
explicit remorse and apologies, as well as assume
full responsibility and provide reparations and
compensation to the victims."
Regret for past actions was expressed by some
speakers from Europe. Baroness Amos of Brondesbury,
Minister for Africa in the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office of the UK, labeled slavery and the slave
trade among the most dishonorable and abhorrent
chapters in the history of humanity.
In a like vein,
the Secretary General of the Council of Europe,
Dr Walter Schwimmer, said that many
of the roots of present-day racism "can be
traced back to our shared history in which - let
us not avoid the issue - the human rights of whole
populations were massively violated. We believe
all states must acknowledge the suffering caused
by slavery and colonialism."
An unusually contrite
statement emerged from Japan's Parliamentary
Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Kaori
Maruya, when she referred to her country's "deep
remorse over our past colonial rule and aggression." She
also mentioned that her government had been fighting
against "various forms of discrimination based
on race and other reasons" that the people
of Dowa regions and the Ainu people suffered." Koreans,
most of whom came to reside in Japan during 36
years of Japanese rule, also faced discrimination,
she candidly admitted.
India's Minister
of State for External Affairs, Omar Abdullah,
poured cold water on the demands
of 200 Dalits who turned up at Durban asserting
that caste be included as a form of racism at the
WCAR. "In the run-up to this conference, there
has been propaganda, highly exaggerated and misleading,
often based on anecdotal evidence, regarding caste-based
discrimination in India," he said. "India
has faced that evil squarely. It is unequivocally
condemned, as is any other form of discrimination.
The issue remains at the top of the national agenda." His
government was firmly of the view that caste was
not an appropriate subject for discussion at this
conference," he concluded.
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