Fiji was among 52 countries that abstained from voting on a United Nations General Assembly resolution recognising transatlantic slavery as the “gravest crime against humanity” and calling for reparations.
The resolution, proposed by Ghana, was adopted on Wednesday with 123 countries voting in favour.
Three countries — the United States, Israel and Argentina — voted against, while 52, including Fiji, the United Kingdom and several European Union member states, abstained.
Although not legally binding, the resolution carries significant political weight and reflects growing international calls to address the legacy of slavery.
The motion recognises the transatlantic slave trade as one of the darkest chapters in human history and urges consideration of reparatory justice for affected communities.
For more than four centuries, millions of Africans were forcibly taken and trafficked across the Atlantic by European powers. Historians estimate that more than 15 million people were enslaved during this period.
The scale and brutality of the system led 18th and 19th century abolitionists to describe it as a “crime against humanity” — a term now widely used in international law.
Scholars have also linked wealth generated through slavery to the industrial development of Western economies.
