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Amplifying voices and building alliances for reparatory justice

11 February 2025 • 9:00 am – 3:00 pm EAT

This event is part of a series of activities marking this year’s African Union (AU) theme of the year. It is meant to bring together representatives from affected communities of historical crimes and harms, civil society and governments for the advancement of justice and reparations for Africans and people of African descent. The aim is to contribute to amplifying the voices and efforts of civil society and affected communities in the ongoing fight for justice and repair for historical crimes. It is also meant to create and tighten connections and alliances in the campaign for reparatory justice and healing. It will be the first of such gatherings on the margins of the AU Summit this year. It is also aimed at popularizing and elevating the case for reparations by the affected communities in Africa.

Six different organizations working on a range of reparatory justice initiatives have collaborated to organize this event. Importantly, four affected communities from across Africa have partnered with civil society organizations to share their stories, draw attention to their campaigns and build alliances for justice, accountability and reparations. The event will happen alongside a series of other activities and engagements in Ethiopia as part of this year’s AU theme of the year.

The AU’s theme of the year is Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations. The AU made this declaration following advocacy efforts of civil society, affected communities and selected Member States of the African Union. The declaration is testimony to the continental body’s determination to advance justice, accountability and repair for historical crimes and harms committed against Africans. Prior to this, civil society organizations and affected communities in the continent have been advocating for various forms of reparations. So, the AU’s theme of the year is a culmination of a range of efforts by civil society, affected communities, academia and other like-minded organizations. It is also a demonstration of AU’s intent to take a more active role in the global advocacy for reparatory justice.

The event is not an official side event of the AU Summit. It is happening on the margins of the AU summit to attract appropriate attention of the media, selected civil society organizations and interested parties. Unlike regular summit side events, this will be a half day event consisting of panel sessions aimed specifically to inform, engage and publicise the case for reparations from the perspectives of affected communities. Representatives from the various affected communities will serve on selected panels to share their demands and interact with the audiences.

The event will also feature a session to examine the role and influence of lawyers and the imperative of combining law, public advocacy and mass mobilization for the achievement of reparatory justice and healing. In addition, the event will be a networking opportunity for various actors in the continent to connect with each other and share information about upcoming activities and actions relating to the theme of the year.

The event is not designed to produce a communique or white paper nor any documentary output. Attendees and guests for this event will be drawn from a variety of sectors including civil society, media, diplomatic corps, government and intergovernmental organizations.

Location: Best Western Premier Hotel, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Objectives

  • To elevate the campaigns and advocacy efforts of affected communities in the fight for reparatory justice.
  • To build stronger alliances between affected communities and civil society organizations.
  • To support coordination efforts in the popularization of the AU Theme of the Year
  • To foster connections and networks between CSOs, affected communities and AU member States.
  • To strengthen the role of legal professionals in advancing reparatory justice through strategic litigation, advocacy, and the use of regional and international legal frameworks.

Key expected outcomes

  • Better understanding of the key issues for reparatory justice from the perspective of affected communities.
  • Increased knowledge of ongoing cases for reparations being led and undertaken by civil society affected communities.
  • Enhanced understanding of the role and influence of law, public advocacy and mass community mobilisation for the achievement of reparatory justice and healing.
  • Establishment of networks and strengthening of connections between and among CSOs, affected and African governments for the advancement of the AU theme of the year.
  • Enhanced capacity of lawyers to integrate legal strategies with advocacy efforts, driving accountability and reparations for historical injustices in Africa and beyond.

The event is expected to be attended by up to sixty (60) people from different sectors and geographies. The organizers will invite representatives from African and international media organizations, civil society, academia, government, philanthropy and social movements. The event will take place outside of the AU headquarters to ensure ease of access and participation. It will be open to all, but seating will be provided on a first-come first-served basis.

Communities represented

Associations of Abducted Mixed-race Children from Burundi and DR Congo: On December 2, 2024, for the first time in the history, a European state, Belgium, was convicted of crimes against humanity due to its colonial policy of abducting mixed-race children from African mothers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi. During the colonial period, Belgium, like other colonial powers, practiced this policy, which involved removing mixed-race children aged 3-4 years old from their African mothers because they were considered a threat to the ideology of white supremacy. Since the 1950s, associations of mixed-race children have mobilized in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, and Belgium to demand justice and reparations. In 2021, five of these associations decided to take legal action to seek financial reparations and won their case. The decision to order Belgium to pay reparations to the victims was made by the Court of Appeal. We are waiting to see if the State will take the case to the Court of Cassation. African Futures Lab is working alongside one of the coalitions of associations based in the DRC, Burundi, and Belgium to advocate for the following demands: financial reparations, access to healthcare, access to Belgian nationality and visas, and access to DNA testing to trace their biological parents.

Landless Peoples’ Movement Namibia: At its core, the Landless Peoples Movement (LPM) Party’s philosophical personality is anchored in struggles for restorative justice, including land justice that encapsulates restitution of ancestral land, incorporating flexible land tenure for urban land dwellers. The Movement came into being in response to elite land capture, class formation, economic stratification, crony capitalism, based on selective distribution of means of production including, clientele-based access to land and other natural resources of the Namibian state. For the past 7 years, the movement has been advocating for reparations alongside the descendants of communities affected by the 1st genocide of the 20th century in Namibia by the German colonial imperialist forces. A task which informs the maxim of the Movement; that of ‘Restoring our People’s Dignity’. The LPM’s pursuit is to overcome the unjust, colonial and postcolonial conditions communities such as the Ovaherero and Nama are being confronted with, by working with these communities to restore their political agency, among other things.

Nama Traditional Leaders Association Namibia: Since the Berlin Conference of 1884, the Nama Leaders opposed and fought German occupation of Great Namakhoeland. Their resistance culminated in the 1904 – 1908 genocide committed by Germany against the Nama and Ovaherero people. The Germans issued an extermination order against the Ovaherero in October 1904, and in April 1905 against the Nama. Those who survived the two extermination orders were ultimately captured and sent to concentration camps established at five locations across the colony – in Windhoek, Okahandja, Karibib, Swakopmund and Shark Island. It is estimated that over 4,000 people were killed on Shark Island. Many Nama and Herero descendants argue that Shark Island was the world’s first death camp. According to a number of historians, the brutal tactics of detention, torture and ‘medical’ experimentation developed on Shark Island constituted part of the blueprint for the genocidal violence later unleashed by the Nazi regime against Europe’s Jewish populations.

For further information about the event, please do not hesitate to contact the following people:


Featured image: Di//ao G╪kao, Xoan// Niani, Se//ae /Ai!ae, N//ing /Ai!ae, and Baqu /ui (left to right) on the main street of Tsumkwe. Credit: Tristen Taylor.