Ouagadougou | Sunday
ORGANISATION of African Unity (OAU) Secretary-General Amara Essy on Saturday said that the United Nations conference on racism under way in Durban, South Africa should declare slavery “a crime against humanity.”
“What is clear is that the Durban conference should recognise slavery and the trade in blacks as a crime against humanity,” Essy said in an interview in the capital of the west African state of Burkina Faso.
If such a statement was accepted at an international level, “it would serve as a psychological and moral reparation for African countries,” he said, adding that Western countries should also cancel debts owed by African nations.
“Some Western countries must realise the harm they have done to Africa, enriching themselves at our expense … when one speaks of justice and human rights, one has to morally and materially make some compensations.”
Essy said this could be made by debt reduction, as “three-quarters of African debt is iniquitous and unjust.”
He added that some western nations had made “super-profits” at the time of colonialism and slavery.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, meanwhile, Saturday appealed to delegates at the Durban conference not to allow it to be hijacked by either Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and by reparations sought for slavery.
“We should not allow one or two issues to derail the conference,” Annan told a press conference.
Essy, who is from Ivory Coast, arrived in Ouagadougou on Friday. – AFP