Jamaica to file slavery reparations petition during UK visit

Jamaica is preparing to use a rarely pursued legal route in its campaign for reparatory justice. During a visit to the United Kingdom, a Jamaican delegation will submit a petition addressed to King Charles III, asking for legal guidance on the legacy of slavery.

The petition will ask three questions to be referred to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Jamaica's highest court of appeal, which is based in London. It will ask whether the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica was legal under English common law, whether it violated international law, and whether the United Kingdom has a legal obligation to remedy the harm caused by slavery.

Jamaica's Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport said Olivia Grange will lead the delegation. The ministry said the visit would advance Jamaica's demand for reparations for Africans who suffered under centuries of enslavement. It also said the delegation would meet the British Museum to discuss the return of cultural artifacts taken from Jamaica.

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We want the answers. Once we get the answers, or once we get a response to those questions, then the next steps will be determined

Grange said she would not speculate about whether Jamaica was asking Britain to pay reparations. "We want the answers. Once we get the answers, or once we get a response to those questions, then the next steps will be determined," she said.

Buckingham Palace said the king had a constitutional role in the petition as Jamaica's head of state, but no role in deciding the substance of the claim. British merchants transported between 600,000 and 1 million enslaved Africans to Jamaica from the 17th century to the early 19th century. After abolishing slavery in 1833, Britain paid slave owners $27 million in compensation. Jamaica's government estimates that the country is owed about $10 billion, while Britain has repeatedly refused to pay for historical slavery.

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for the cause of reparatory justice