US explains dissent as UN declares slavery ‘gravest crime against humanity’

The United States has justified its opposition to the United Nations ‘Declaration of the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialized Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime against Humanity.’

The resolution spearheaded by Ghana passed this week at the UN General Assembly in New York, with a vote of 123 in favor to 3 against (Argentina, Israel, and the United States). There were 52 abstentions.

In its position, the U.S. said while it stands against trans-Atlantic/trans-Saharan slave trade, all other forms of slavery, and accepts they are “historical wrongs,” the UN resolution text was “highly problematic in countless respects.”

Ambassador Dan Negrea argued that the UN exists to maintain international peace and security, not to advance specific interests and agendas, establish niche international days, or create new costly meeting and reporting mandates.

Negrea, Rep. to the UN Economic and Social Council, said the U.S. acknowledges past horrors, but rejects the resolution’s assertion that historical facts from the 15th-19th centuries constitute violations of jus cogens (peremptory norms).

Observing the resolution’s drafters and supporters seem to expect compensation, the U.S. insists it “does not recognize a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs that were not illegal under international law at the time they occurred.”

The government also questioned who the recipients of “reparatory justice” would be, and cautioned against the reallocation of modern resources to people and nations who are distantly related to the historical victims.

Negrea also condemned the “fake news” about President Donald Trump, saying he has done more for Black Americans than any other president and enjoyed historic support from the Black community in the 2024 election.

Speaking before the vote on behalf of the 54-member African Group, Ghana’s President John Mahama, who earlier submitted the draft, called the resolution a “solemn solidarity to affirm truth and pursue a route to healing and reparative justice.”

UN Secretary General António Guterres said the transatlantic slave trade was a crime against humanity that struck at the core of personhood, broke up families, and devastated communities.

In a statement after the referendum, the diplomat urged everyone to “reject the false narrative of racial difference” and fully commit to human rights, equality, and the inherent worth of every person.

US explains dissent as UN declares slavery ‘gravest crime against humanity’