UN rights boss urges ‘wide range’ of reparations over racism

BERLIN (dpa) – The UN head of human rights called on the countries on Monday to “fully finance comprehensive processes” and to take “a wide range of reparation measures” in order to tackle the legacy of slavery, colonial rule and racial discrimination.

Michelle Bachelet presented the UN Human Rights Council with a landmark report that was produced after the assassination of George Floyd in the United States and published last month. A year in the making, it hopes to build on the momentum of the intensified global review of racism and its effects on people of African descent.

Bachelet told the Geneva council that research has “failed to find a single example of a state that has fully addressed its past or considered its impact on the lives of people of African descent today,” although some attempts have been made to tell the truth through apologies , Litigation and commemoration.

She recommended that countries “put in place, strengthen and fully fund comprehensive processes – with the full participation of the affected communities – to convey the truth about what has been done and the damage it continues to do”.

“Finding out the truth about these legacies and their effects today, and taking steps to address this damage through a wide range of reparative measures, is vital to healing our societies and bringing horrific crimes to justice,” said Bachelet. “Measures to deal with the past will change our future.”

The Human Rights Council commissioned the report during a special session last year following the murder of Floyd, a black American who was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis in May 2020. The officer, Derek Chauvin, was sentenced to 22 1/2 years last month in prison.

The US executive director in Geneva, Benjamin Moeling, welcomed the “insightful and open report” in a video statement to the council.

“The United States is honestly and transparently addressing these challenges at home and abroad by addressing underlying issues of racial discrimination and the use of excessive police force,” he said.

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