#restitution-narratives

#restitution-narratives

The United Nations voted to describe the transatlantic chattel slave trade as the gravest crime against humanity and called for reparations as a concrete step towards remedying historical wrongs.

Roelf Meyer, who played a crucial role in ending white minority rule in South Africa, has been appointed as the new ambassador to the United States, indicating a shift in diplomatic strategy.

Victims' Commissioner Claire Waxman expressed her delight at the government's decision, stating that the change is long overdue and acknowledges the years of campaigning led by bereaved families like Tracey Hanson, who sought justice following the tragic death of her son Josh.

The four men were pulled over by three white security police officers, handcuffed, and driven back towards Gqeberha. Mkonto was shot after a struggle, while the others were attacked from behind.

[The U.S.] does not recognize a legal right to reparations for historical wrongs that were not illegal under international law at the time they occurred.

There is nothing more dangerous than an enforced disappearance. Think about the word for a moment: disappearance. Imagine waking up to find that a relative has vanished without a trace, or that you've been torn away from your family with no explanation. When you're disappeared, anything can happen to you, from verbal humiliation to physical torture or even death.

That number represents roughly 7% of the state's land and waters. It also corresponds with the amount of land the federal government promised it would hold as reservations for Indigenous tribes after California joined the union in 1850. Congress ultimately rejected these treaties in a secret meeting - after pressure from the state - and failed to notify tribes, many of whom upheld their end of the agreement to relocate.

Supporters of renaming Graaff-Reinet to Robert Sobukwe argue that it is a necessary step in transforming South Africa away from its colonial past and white-minority rule.

Yusupha Mbye's mother pushes his wheelchair slowly across the tiled compound of their home in Kanifing, about 11km (seven miles) from The Gambia's capital, Banjul. The late-afternoon sun hangs low as she pauses to straighten a wrap over his legs, stopping briefly to catch her breath. He has been in this wheelchair since he was a teenager, she told Al Jazeera, wiping away tears. Twenty-six years later, I am still caring for him.

"My mother and sisters were killed on that day. For 26 years, I have not known where their bodies are buried. Every time I see a pit, I think they might be lying there," Gashi says. For more than two decades, he has been haunted by the feeling that the truth could lie right beneath his feet, but remains out of reach.

When Thomas Jefferson wrote about the "inalienable" rights of man in the US Declaration of Independence 250 years ago, it's possible he lifted the term from the French. And long before it was ever used as an adjective to describe human rights, it defined royal property. To this day, "inalienability" remains a cornerstone of public collections in France-and many other countries-impacting museums and their ability to deaccession, including for purposes of restitution.

In 2011, the Colombian government ordered the creation of a national museum "to achieve the strengthening of the collective memory" around the decades-long armed conflict. That same year, it passed the Victims and Land Restitution Law aimed at providing victims with reparations and justice. More than just a curated collection of objects or artworks, the museum, scheduled to be inaugurated in 2018, was conceived as an archive of the violent civil war.