UN backs resolution calling slave trade ‘gravest crime against humanity’

A memorial sculpture by Sandrine Plante-Rougeol in Bordeaux, a historic slave-trading port, where the legacy of the transatlantic slave trade remains central to debates on recognition and reparations. AFP - GEORGES GOBET

The United Nations General Assembly on Thursday voted to designate the transatlantic African slave trade "the gravest crime against humanity" – despite opposition from the United States and abstentions from the United Kingdom and all 27 European Union member states.

The resolution – proposed by Ghana – was adopted to applause by a vote of 123 in favour.