Expert suggests reparation by the West for African slavery

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 07/13 - As the second Conference of Intellectuals from Africa and the Diaspora (CIAD II) opened

Wednesday in Salvador-Bahia, Brazil, a panelist on poverty, racism, xenophobia and other forms of discrimination suggested

that countries that benefited the most from the African slave trade should provide the vital resources to the New

Partnership for Africa`s Development (NEPAD).

Njunga Mulikita, a Zambian expert on democracy and governance issues, said the gathering of about 1,000 delegates from

African leadership in the continent and the Diaspora should urge African leaders to re-engage the countries that profited

from the African slave trade to support NEPAD.

"I am not suggesting that banks in the Western countries that played a big part in the African slave trade should be

compelled to make large monetary payments to African countries," Mulikita told PANA here on his way to the conference.

Drawing on the Jewish Holocaust to back his opinion, he said the state of Israel continues to receive reparations on account

of the mass murder that cost six million lives in death camps under the German Nazi regime in World War II.

A few years ago, Mulikita recalled, the Jewish Diaspora lobby in the USA pressured the notoriously secretive Swiss banking

industry to open up its archives so that the truth regarding the role of Swiss banks in the holocaust would be uncovered.

"This pressure led to banks in Switzerland making payments to survivors of the holocaust and their next of kin," he said.

Though Mulikita linked reparations to NEPAD, he explained that Western politicians and policy makers would, with some

measure of justification, claim that corrupt African politicians and bureaucrats might gobble such payments up.

The 12-14 July 2006 gathering, organized by the Brazilian government in collaboration with the African Union (AU), is being

held under the general theme of `The Diaspora and the African Renaissance`.

It is intended to revive, situate and harness the contribution of African intellectuals on the continent and the Diaspora as a

vehicle for innovative ideas, development and social transformation.

"In my opinion, CIAD II offers intellectuals and policy makers of the Diaspora and the continent, a unique platform to

re-consider the case of reparations to Africa for injustices and inequities such as slavery and colonialism, which severely

harmed the continent and its peoples.

"The ramifications of these injustices are still felt today, even though the Western media and intellectual figures

mischievously trivialize the severely harmful impact on Africa`s socio-economic development, resulting from the slave trade

and colonialism," Mulikita asserted.

On his talking point at the conference, Mulikita said CIAD II should result in a call for the establishment of a mechanism

within NEPAD to address xenophobia, racism and other forms of discrimination suffered by people of African descent in

the Diaspora.

"People of African descent and Africans living outside the continent continue to suffer discriminatory practices and

xenophobia, rendering them particularly vulnerable to poverty and social exclusion," he said.

In his view, the mechanism he proposes would not only publicly name and shame countries tolerating racist behaviour but also

lobby such bodies as the UN Human Rights Council and the Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights to censure the

culprits as violators of universal human rights instruments.

"Such a step would go a long way in alleviating the sad plight that people of African descent suffer on account of

institutionalized racism and xenophobia in the world of the 21st century," Mulikita added.

CIAD I, held from 6-9 October 2004 in Dakar, Senegal, resolved that a follow-up conference be held in the Diaspora.

Brazil, the host of the second gathering, has the second largest population of African descent after Nigeria. Salvador is the

most visibly African city in Latin America, evincing traditions and customs taken to the Americas by African slaves centuries

ago.

According to the AU secretariat, some African, Caribbean and South American Heads of State and Government would take

part in CIAD II along with diplomats, civil servants, policy makers, Nobel laureates, representatives of civil society and the

private sector, and intellectuals from all walks of life.

Among other objectives, the AU said CIAD II would revisit African history in order to build a new awareness and forge a

continental identity that will enable Africa to organize its process of integration in a pragmatic manner.

The conference will seek to establish related ways and means of projecting Africa`s image and identity as a relevant and

important actor in a rapidly changing world.
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