“The time has come for the international community to be honest,
not to be hypocritical, not be selective, not engage in erasure,
but to admit that the gravest crime against humanity took place
and it took place on this continent. And that the time to repair
what was broken, what undermines our collective humanity, what is
a scar on our collective conscience, the time and the only way to
repair that is now.”
Aleem Maqbool speaks to Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Okudzeto
Ablakwa, about his country leading a global campaign for
reparations for the transatlantic slave trade.
Earlier this year, the United Nations adopted an historic
resolution that declared the transatlantic slave trade "the
gravest crime against humanity", although every European nation
chose to abstain in the vote. Meanwhile, the US was one of three
countries to vote against.
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, it’s estimated that around
12 million people were forcibly trafficked from Africa to
European colonies in the Americas, although some historians place
this figure even higher.
Accra’s campaign has been supported by countries all over the
world, and although not so much by European nations, it has been
recognised by some European institutions, like the Church of
England. The Interview brings you conversations with people
shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews
from the BBC, including episodes with former Sudanese leader
Aisha Musa, microfinance pioneer Jennifer Riria, and Dr Tedros
Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health
Organisation. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The
Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or
wherever you get your podcasts.
Presenter: Aleem Maqbool Producers: Catherine Wyatt and Ben
Cooper Editor: Justine Lang
Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the
hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. Credit: Getty)
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