Caricom urges ‘diplomatic engagement’ for Reparations

Mar 15, 2015 News

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The fact that former slave colonies have good diplomatic relations with former slave trading nations is enough to see the region approach Europe for Reparations on a basis of ‘a diplomacy of engagement’ rather than ‘a diplomacy of protest.’
This understanding comes as the regional body forges ahead with the mammoth task of getting compensation from the former slave owning, European powers; mainly Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Sweden. Some 15 Caribbean countries, including Guyana, are seeking compensation for the damage caused by indigenous genocide and slavery.
With talk about time span, evidence and witness availability already popping up, Caricom has stated categorically that it will not give up on the issue of reparations, claiming that it is too big an issue that is necessary for healing and bringing honour and dignity to the Caribbean.
Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart assured that Caricom will not “pursue the issue of reparations on the basis of diplomacy of protest” but “on the basis of a diplomacy of engagement.” Prime Minister Stuart, who chairs the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Reparations, addressed the issue at the closing press conference for the just-ended 26th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) held in the Bahamas.
He said that so far as the issue of reparations is concerned, it was discussed at length during the meeting. It is an issue to which the entire region is irrevocably committed and “there is going to be no retreat on the issue of reparations.” the Prime Minister insisted.
The retired Head of State noted that the point must be made that the region does not pursue the issue of reparations on the basis of a diplomacy of protest, since “We (Caribbean) are pursuing the issue of reparations on the basis of a diplomacy of engagement. That is very important because all of us have today civilized diplomatic relations with former slave trading nations and we’re not about to undermine, depreciate or destroy those relations,” Stuart noted.
He charged however that, “At the same time we cannot turn our backs on our history and the legacy which has been bequeathed to us as a result of slavery and native genocide.”
“We contemplate therefore as a first measure, having a discussion with designated countries – former slave trading countries to see what areas of agreement exist and whether there can be an amicable and civilized resolution to our differences,” Prime Minister Stuart added.
The issue of Reparations has been high on the agenda for the Caricom Heads of Government. Last year the regional leaders accepted the Caribbean Reparatory Justice Programme (CRJP) as a basis for discussions on reparations. The CRJP is part of a strategic and operational plan prepared by the Regional Reparations Commission consisting of ten points that need to be addressed.
An update was given on the CRJP during the recently held conference. The former Prime Minister clarified that he did want the regional media to have the impression and disseminate that “this (reparation) is the kind of situation where we are pursuing a case for monetary compensation which is easily quantifiable and which would satisfy the requirements of a modern municipal court of law.”
“There is a legacy with which we are dealing, and what we are trying to sensitise former slave trading nations to, is the existence of that legacy and the connection between that legacy and their actions in the 17th and 18th and part of the 19th century as well.”
“Having done that, we look at our areas of continuing deficit – social deficit, economic deficit and sometimes political deficit … and try to see what developmental initiatives we can initiate as a result of our discussions to redress some of these hideous imbalances.”
Prime Minister Stuart said that is the course Caricom is intending to pursue and the regional effort will be linked to related international developments.
“Fortuitously, the United Nations has just designated the current decade as the International Decade for People of African Descent, and the victims of slavery and native genocide have been predominantly people of African descent. Therefore we have to take full advantage of this decade to ensure that the agenda of the decade reflects some of our more fundamental concerns. So we have to take the long view on this issue, recognize that the legacy we are fighting did not take shape overnight and therefore it is not going to be dismantled overnight but we have to start somewhere and we are starting with the pursuit of reparatory justice,” Prime Minister Stuart imparted.
Former slave colonies have blamed Europe for many of the challenges they are facing; health related, economic, social and other areas. University of the West Indies’ Administrator and Professor, Dr. Hilary Beckles, who also chairs Caricom’s Reparations Committee, had said during an address to the House of Lords in England last year that slavery’s legacy was still impacting on Caribbean nations.
In Jamaica, for example, Britain’s largest slave colony was left with 80% black functional illiteracy at Independence in 1962. They struggled with development and poverty alleviation. Britain owes Jamaicans an educational and human resource investment initiative, Beckles stated.
He emphasised that Britain’s first slave society, Barbados, is now called the “amputation capital of the world” because among other things they face dietary disasters making the country the most virulent diabetes and hypertension epidemic. Barbados, he said, is owed an education and health initiative likewise “the Bahamas, the Leewards, the Windwards, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, and beyond”. (Zena Henry)

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