Issue#4
FEB 15th 2003.
In a letter dated January 2, 2003 and sent to the Rastafarian Brethren of Jamaica in care of Howard Hamilton,Q.C., the Public Defender, Queen Elizabeth II, through Kay Brock, her assistant private secretary, said that although the slave trade was barbaric and uncivilised, it was not considered a crime against humanity at the time the United Kingdom government condoned it.
She said, however, that the UK Government "is looking at ways to commemorate all victims of the slave trade."
"A body of independent experts is advising the Home Secretary on the most appropriate form of UK slavery commemoration; the aim is to express the profound regret we feel about slavery while looking positively to the future," the letter said.
It continued: "Under the statute of the International Criminal Court, acts of enslavement committed today... do constitute a crime against humanity. But the historic slave trade was not a crime against humanity or contrary to international law at the time when the UK government condoned it.
"It is a fundamental principle of international law that events have to be judged against the law as it stood at the time when they occurred. We regret and condemn the inequities of the slave trade, but these shameful activities belong to the past. Governments today cannot accept responsibility for what happened over 150 years ago."
Jamaicans for Reparations ...by Makeda.
The way became clear for Reparations to take center stage, enabling the presentation of a wide variety of human rights abuses from victims who felt justified in making specific demands for Reparations. The cry for Reparations came not just from Africans in the Continent, in the Americas and the Caribbean, but from members of such disparate disenfranchised groups as South American Indians, European gypsies, and members of India's lowest caste – the Dallits.
Two drafting groups were given the task of preparing a Working Paper and a Plan of Action addressing all aspects of Racism, Racial Intolerance and Xenophobia. However, the issues continually presented by African and Caribbean delegates concerning racism resulting from 300 years of African enslavement in the Americas by Europeans, and subsequent colonialism and indentureship in the Caribbean and South America, caused prolonged discussions which became an obstacle to discussion of other sections of the document.
Thus, a separate caucus was set up consisting of African and Caribbean delegates on one side, and delegates representing the former enslaving and colonial powers on the other, to formulate a document on African Reparations which would be acceptable to both sides. The results of the heated 3-day debate in this caucus produced the most important document to emerge from the WCAR. Thanks to the kind invitation of Ambassador Stafford Neil, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who headed the Jamaican delegation and upgraded my NGO status by adding me to the delegation as an advisor, I was lucky to have been present in this caucus and to make an input on the most important issue of Reparations. For three days the leading diplomats of the African and Caribbean countries gave detailed reasons and heartfelt explanations of the issues of Reparations.
The Reparations controversy centers around the primary and uncompromising demand of the African Diaspora that an Apology from enslaving nations be offered to victims of slavery. In addition -- and even before any discussion of financial reparations -- the victims want the enslaving nations to admit that slavery was a `crime against humanity', then and now. And we asked for Reparations including, but not limited to, monetary compensation for the 300-year enslavement of Africans, the resulting colonialism and present-day neo-colonialism which have had such negative repercussions in the African Diaspora.
We were mindful of the payment of Reparations to several groups of people and communities for recent crimes against humanity. The State of Israel receives reparations estimated at US$7 Billion annually for the sufferings of the Jewish holocaust, and groups such as Japanese Americans interned during World War 11, Korean women used as sex slaves by Japanese in the same war and Native American Indians are among those who have also received reparations for human rights abuses in the 20th Century. The crimes against Africans 300 years ago still affect their descendants today, victims declare.
The Durban World Conference Against Racism opened a revolutionary door for the African Diaspora, and placed the issue of Reparations on the front burner of global political agendas. On my return from Durban, I was inspired to keep in touch with the many people from around the world whom I had been fortunate to meet and discuss Reparations, so I set up an Internet e-mail group, the International Reparations Support Group and invited 30 persons to join in talking about the Conference and its potential outcome. The IRS Group has 50 members in Africa, the Caribbean, America, Europe, Australia and in Jamaica.I also built a website: The Case For Reparations, on which I placed all the Documents, Links, Media and other information necessary to inform and guide our discussion.
Out of more than 300 messages exchanged between us, we realized the necessity of forming a Jamaican organization to discuss Reparations, to educate the nation on the topic, and our messages, reports and documents have been co-ordinated into the First Draft of a national document which we intend to submit to Government to guide an official position on Reparations to present to the United Nations.
The objectives of the Jamaica Reparations Movement are:
To raise public awareness, education and participation in the issue of African Reparations.
To establish Reparations Committees in each Parish, co-ordinated by a Steering Committee, to carry out the work of public awareness, education and participation.
To develop a Reparations document which will be a comprehensive report on the issue, including the historical, numerical and financial facts and the desired and required forms of such Reparations -- in particular for Jamaican and Caribbean people.
To gather signatures on a national Reparations Petition.
To link with Reparation committees, groups and individuals across the African Diaspora.
To continue interaction with the UN Commission for Human Rights and its follow up to the WCAR (World Conference Against Racism, Racial Intolerance and Xenophobia.)
To achieve these objectives, the JaRM wishes interested Jamaicans to volunteer for Parish Committees which will: discuss and improve the Reparations Document, share information, hold public education events and gather signatures for a national petition. The IRSGroup and the JaRM have been working so far with computers on the Internet, and this has proved to be a very efficient way of communicating with each other. The JaRM will continue to use the Internet as the chief means of communication, and we have established an e-mail address to which volunteers can write us. There is also a mail address.
NEW JAMAICAN Vol.1
