UN urges countries to consider reparations for slavery, colonialism

The United Nation chief for rights on Monday urged countries to end systemic racism and provide "reparatory justice" for past wrongdoings like slavery and colonialism.

Michelle Bachelet was speaking before the United Nations Human Rights Council and described how systemic racism against Africans and those with African descent continues to paralyse many aspects of their lives.

Following the deathof George Floyd in the United States at the hands of a white police officer, Bachelet said that there was "an urgent need to confront the legacies of enslavement".

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Her report also addressed systemic racism around the globe. She urged countries to confront legacies of "the transatlantic slave trade, colonialism and successive racially discriminatory policies and systems, and to seek reparatory justice."

In her report, Bachelet referred to 190 deaths of Africans and people of African descent at the hands of law enforcement officials - mostly in the Americans and Europe.

Bachelet added that racial violence and systemic racism were highly rooted in "the absence of formal acknowledgement of the responsibilities of states and others that engaged in or profited from" such practices, "as well as those who continue to profit from this legacy".

The text is due to be discussed later on Monday or Tuesday and has proposed the creation of "independent expert mechanism" in hopes of advancing "racial justice and equality" especially in the context of law enforcement in "all parts of the world".

Bachelet urged the council to create "a specific, time-bound mechanism to advance racial justice" while adding that it was only through past behaviourthat countries could hope to "transform the structures, institutions and behaviourthat lead to direct or indirect discrimination".