Jamaica to bring slavery reparations petition to King Charles

The Jamaican government will hand a petition to King Charles regarding slavery reparations on Monday, the country’s culture minister, Olivia Grange, has said.

It will ask the King, who serves as Jamaica’s head of state, to refer three questions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the country’s highest court, over the legality of the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica.

Grange said it could pave the way for a “long outstanding settlement for the hundreds of years of the most horrific abuse that our African ancestors endured”.

She will also meet with British Museum officials to discuss the repatriation of artefacts taken during the colonial era.

The three questions which the Jamaican government is asking the King to refer to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) are: whether the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica was legal under English law, whether it broke international law, and whether Britain now has a legal duty to provide redress.

The petition, which is not a demand for payment, goes to the King who then refers it to the JCPC.

King Charles has no personal discretion in deciding whether to make a referral.

Grange said: “Once we get the answers, or once we get a response to those questions, then the next steps will be determined.”

Buckingham Palace has been working closely with the Governor-General of Jamaica to ensure the petition is properly lodged.

A Palace spokesperson said: “His Majesty has on many occasions expressed his personal and wholehearted commitment to promoting greater understanding around the issue of slavery and finding ways to address historic wrongs for the benefit of communities today.”

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When slavery was abolished across most of the empire in 1833, the British government paid £20m to slave owners in compensation. The loans taken out to raise the money were paid off in 2015.

Grange said: “Up to 2015, Britain was paying the slave masters, because we were being considered property.

“The question really should be: if in modern times we’re still paying back the slave masters for the property that was our people, our ancestors, for property that was because of the abolition of slavery, then why shouldn’t we be pursuing some remedy at this time?”

Grange will also meet with British Museum officials to “advance discussions on the repatriation of artefacts” taken from Jamaica during the colonial era.

She said: “They are priceless, they are significant to the story of Jamaica and we are working to bring them home.”

In 2015, David Cameron, who was prime minister at the time, ruled out making reparations for Britain’s role in the historic slave trade, while visiting Jamaica.

Speaking to MPs in Jamaica’s parliament, Cameron said slavery was “abhorrent in all its forms”. He added that he hoped they could “move on from this painful legacy and continue to build for the future”.