MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica, Jul 9, CMC – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders have given “broad support” for Jamaica moving forward with a petition to Britain’s King Charles 111, regarding the issue of reparation for slavery.
CARICOM chairman and host Prime Minister, Andrew Holness said that the approach is being made to the head of the British Monarchy in his capacity also as head of state of Jamaica.
According to Holness, King Charles 111 is being asked to “seek a formal ruling from the Privy Council on whether the Atlantic enslavement of Africans was lawful under common law and whether local laws supporting it were valid”.
The King is also being asked to approach the London-based Privy Council, which is also Jamaica’s highest court, to determine whether or not “slavery as practised in Jamaica up to 1838 constituted a crime against humanity under international law and whether oif so, the United Kingdom bears a legal obligation to provide reparations to Jamaica and its people for the enduring harm caused”.
(Details in Full News section)
CMC/2025