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	International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery by Kate Gilmore Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights   (Statement on the Commemoration of the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade)   For more than four centuries, the world put into practice a system of commerce founded on such utter degradation of certain people; so that people unrelentingly and without relief would be comprehensively stripped – for commercial gain – of all that is required to live in dignity or everything that amounts to a recognizable form of humanity.   It was the longest running, most brutal chapter of human history because it was also celebrated, defended ruthlessly and exploited mercilessly.   The transatlantic trade of enslaved Africans - a trade in human beings; the intended result of respected legal, social, economic and politic institutions, it lasted from the middle of the 15th century to the end of the 19th century.   Actual numbers of those cruelly robbed of their identities, families, homes, lands, cultures, voices – actual numbers can never be confirmed. But more than 15 million men, women and children were abducted, transported under extreme force to destinations thousands of miles away. Millions of course, women, men, children, the new born, never lived to see landfall, dying in the course of their horror journey.   Millions though survived to be sold – primarily on American soil - as mere merchandise thence to be further exploited, brutalised and to spend and then lose their lives under the most horrific of circumstances.   Today we honour the memory of the victims of the transatlantic slave trade. We honor their stories. We honor their struggles for freedom and their fights for equality.   We honor further the legacy of their suffering and their endurance, which is today a sacred obligation – a sacrosanct duty – falling to each of us - to do all that we possibly can to ensure that never again should a shadow so gross and so toxic be cast over the human community.   That never again should the callous greed of a malignant few be sated at unfathomable cost to so many. That never again should baseless bigotry entrap and enchain; or pernicious prejudice lash and whip; or heinous hate so maim, wound and destroy.   This Day of Remembrance, acknowledges a rank chapter in human history. Story told and story denied, yet still today the story’s aftermath warps and morphs the social, cultural, political and even economic interactions between and among people and across and between countries.   But as we remember, let us also recall. For on this Day we recall too the enormous contribution of people of African descent the world over - specifically in the context of the trans America slave trade - an immeasurably important contribution to the world’s economies, cultures and communities.   The International Decade of People of African Descent brings such recognition, justice and development for people of African descent to the fore. Yet it does so in the context of continued denial of rights, given the grave impediments to rights realization of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, Afro-phobia and the toxic intersections these hatreds forge with others such as sexism, homophobia and Islamophobia.   Slavery is not an abomination only of the past. For despite the several international legal instruments that now make explicit and global its prohibition, the slave trade and slavery continue.   Indeed, denigration of people for the purpose of their exploitation is a current, not only an historical, practice. In 2016, the ILO estimated that 40 million people remain enslaved or working in slavery-like conditions, of which ten million were children. As recently as last year, media reports documented migrants of African descent being auctioned off as slaves.   Yet slavery today remains mostly hidden from sight, as forced and bonded labour, as forced marriage, child labour, human trafficking and sexual exploitation.   Like yesterday’s victims of slavery, today’s are rarely provided redress or rehabilitation – despite this being an formal obligation on States.   Eradication of modern slavery is a commitment of the 2030 Agenda. But to fully eradicate slavery, we need more than effective national legislative and policy measures alone - we need to transform the structural socioeconomic dynamics that enable these crimes to flourish.   Ending contemporary forms of slavery requires a broader struggle to combat their root causes – which are poverty, illiteracy, lack of education, deprivation of land, exploitative informal sector work, discrimination, gender inequality, racism and prejudice.   Eradication of these too are commitments of the 2030 Agenda, which is why in combination with the Member States’ promise to leave no one behind, the sustainable development goals and target offer a major opportunity to eradicate slavery once and for all.   The very first anti-enslavement campaigners were the enslaved people themselves – human rights defenders, organizing - through civil action - for defence of rights. The great rebellion of slaves in 1791 in Santo Domingo marked the beginning of a decade long struggle that would see the formation of the sovereign state that would be called Haiti.   On the other side of the Atlantic, a few dedicated abolitionists – also human rights defenders – took on the vested interests of state, church and big business to end slavery – a campaign in which, and I quote, “people became outraged, and stayed outraged for many years over someone else''s rights but their own” (Adam Hochshild – Bury the Chains).   This year as we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we also campaign for precisely that – for people to stand up for someone else’s human rights, today.   To do so is to honor the victims of modern slavery, and respect the memories of those who were casualties of the transatlantic slave trade - over so many decades - so many decades ago.   But we – as the international community – must do more. We must recognise the sheer radioactivity of slavery’s impact – the continued impact of its aftermath on people of African descent today – an impact with a half-life of such duration that it still would rob people of their full life.   Countries must take urgent and effective measures to overturn that toxic legacy, to put an end to racism and xenophobia, and take all reasonable measure to ensure the conclusive end and non-repetition of the suffering that slavery in all its form exacts. Never again. Nunca mas. Plus jamais. Visit the related web page
	Africa is not poor, we are stealing its wealth by Nick Dearden Global Justice Now, agencies United Kingdom   Africa is poor, but we can try to help its people. It''s a simple statement, repeated through a thousand images, newspaper stories and charity appeals each year, so that it takes on the weight of truth. When we read it, we reinforce assumptions and stories about Africa that we''ve heard throughout our lives. We reconfirm our image of Africa.   Try something different. Africa is rich, but we steal its wealth. That''s the essence of a report (see link below) from several campaign groups released today. Based on a set of new figures, it finds that sub-Saharan Africa is a net creditor to the rest of the world to the tune of more than $41bn. Sure, there''s money going in: around $161bn a year in the form of loans, remittances (those working outside Africa and sending money back home), and aid.   But there''s also $203bn leaving the continent. Some of this is direct, such as $68bn in mainly dodged taxes. Essentially multinational corporations "steal" much of this - legally - by pretending they are really generating their wealth in tax havens. These so-called "illicit financial flows" amount to around 6.1 percent of the continent''s entire gross domestic product (GDP) - or three times what Africa receives in aid.   Then there''s the $30bn that these corporations "repatriate" - profits they make in Africa but send back to their home country, or elsewhere, to enjoy their wealth. The City of London is awash with profits extracted from the land and labour of Africa.   There are also more indirect means by which we pull wealth out of Africa. Today''s report estimates that $29bn a year is being stolen from Africa in illegal logging, fishing and trade in wildlife. $36bn is owed to Africa as a result of the damage that climate change will cause to their societies and economies as they are unable to use fossil fuels to develop in the way that Europe did. Our climate crisis was not caused by Africa, but Africans will feel the effect more than most others. Needless to say, the funds are not currently forthcoming.   If African countries are to benefit from foreign investment, they must be allowed to - even helped to - legally regulate that investment and the corporations that often bring it.   In fact, even this assessment is enormously generous, because it assumes that all of the wealth flowing into Africa is benefitting the people of that continent. But loans to governments and the private sector (at more than $50bn) can turn into unpayable and odious debt.   Ghana is losing 30 per cent of its government revenue to debt repayments, paying loans which were often made speculatively, based on high commodity prices, and carrying whopping rates of interest. One particularly odious aluminium smelter in Mozambique, built with loans and aid money, is currently costing the country £21 for every £1 that the Mozambique government received.   British aid, which is used to set up private schools and health centres, can undermine the creation of decent public services, which is why such private schools are being closed down in Uganda and Kenya. Of course, some Africans have benefitted from this economy. There are now around 165,000 very rich Africans, with combined holdings of $860bn.   But, given the way the economy works, where do these people mainly keep their wealth? In tax havens.   A 2014 estimate suggests that rich Africans were holding a massive $500bn in tax havens. Africa''s people are effectively robbed of wealth by an economy that enables a tiny minority of Africans to get rich by allowing wealth to flow out of Africa.   So what is the answer? Western governments would like to be seen as generous beneficiaries, doing what they can to "help those unable to help themselves". But the first task is to stop perpetuating the harm they are doing. Governments need to stop forcing African governments to open up their economy to privatisation, and their markets to unfair competition.   If African countries are to benefit from foreign investment, they must be allowed to - even helped to - legally regulate that investment and the corporations that often bring it. And they might want to think about not putting their faith in the extractives sector.   With few exceptions, countries with abundant mineral wealth experience poorer democracy, weaker economic growth, and worse development. To prevent tax dodging, governments must stop prevaricating on action to address tax havens. No country should tolerate companies with subsidiaries based in tax havens operating in their country.   Aid is tiny, and the very least it can do, if spent well, is to return some of Africa''s looted wealth. We should see it both as a form of reparations and redistribution, just as the tax system allows us to redistribute wealth from the richest to the poorest within individual societies. The same should be expected from the global "society".   To even begin to embark on such an ambitious programme, we must change the way we talk and think about Africa. It''s not about making people feel guilty, but correctly diagnosing a problem in order to provide a solution. We are not, currently, "helping" Africa. Africa is rich. Let''s stop making it poorer.   * Nick Dearden is the director of UK campaigning organisation Global Justice Now. He was previously the director of Jubilee Debt Campaign: http://bit.ly/2DS1upO   http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/china-sri-lanka-hambantota-port-debt-by-brahma-chellaney-2017-12 Visit the related web page
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