 "Time has come: Commonwealth leaders add mention of reparatory justice in joint statement despite reluctant UK")
In a path-breaking move, Commonwealth leaders have agreed that “the time has come” for a conversation about reparatory justice despite the reluctance from the United Kingdom. The language was agreed by the Commonwealth heads of government during their meeting in Chogm on Saturday.
The move is touted as a major blow to the UK, which did not want reparatory justice to be mentioned during the meeting. After the summit, UK PM Keir Starmer told press the summit that the “notes call for discussion and it agrees that this is the time for conversations”.
However, he stressed that “none of the discussions have been about money. Our position is very, very clear on that.” Before the meeting took place, the UK government maintained that it does not pay reparations and insisted that the question was not on the agenda for Chogm.
What does the communique say?
The communique’s section on reparatory justice said that most Commonwealth countries “share common historical experiences in relation to this abhorrent trade, chattel enslavement, the debilitation and dispossession of Indigenous people”. It also referred to the “enduring effects” of slavery.
“Heads, noting calls for discussions on reparatory justice with regard to the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and chattel enslavement, and recognising the importance of this matter to member states of the Commonwealth … agreed that the time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity," the document reads.
“Heads further agreed to continue playing an active role in bringing about such inclusive conversations addressing these harms, paying special attention to women and girls, who suffered disproportionately from these appalling tragedies in the history of humanity.” it furthered.
Impact Shorts
View AllThe Commonwealth defied the UK
Despite the UK’s insistence, the Commonwealth leaders ultimately defied the British leadership by including a paragraph on reparatory justice in the summit communique. Meanwhile, Starmer succeeded in avoiding a separate declaration on reparatory justice, which the commonwealth countries have been pushing for.
The proponents of the concept argued that reparatory justice can take many forms, including educational programmes, debt relief and other kinds of economic support, The Guardian reported. In the past, Starmer has spoken about the importance of helping commonwealth countries access climate finance.
“Our Commonwealth is going to take exactly the same approach to considering these matters … that they have taken to every difficult issue which has been painful and has been a matter of concern for our members," Patricia Scotland, the outgoing secretary general of the Commonwealth, said after the summit.
However, Starmer attempted to downplay the significance of the move. “The slave trade, slave practice, was abhorrent, and it’s very important that we start from there. Abhorrent is the right word,” the prime minister told reporters in Samoa.
“There is … the paragraph in the communique about reparatory justice, which does two things: it notes calls for discussion and it agrees that this is the time for a conversation," he said. Undermining the initiative, the British premier said that the section on reparations was a small part of “quite a long communique” and that the “absolute priority” for Commonwealth countries at the summit had been to discuss resilience to the climate crisis.
While abruptly ending the discussion Starmer insisted that the next opportunity to discuss the issue would be the UK-Caribbean Forum next year.
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