At the launch of the first session of the Permanenet Forume on People of African Descent (PFPAD) on December 6, 2022, Balanta Society President Siphiwe Baleka invoked the mandate of the PFPAD to Request an Advisory Opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the status of Afro Descendants as Prisoners of War under the Geneva Convention. On April 5, 2023, A MANDATE FROM THE AFRO DESCENDANT PEOPLE ISSUED TO THE PERMANENT FORUM ON PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT TO REQUEST AN ADVISORY OPINION FROM THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE ON THEIR STATUS AS PRISONERS OF WAR UNDER THE GENEVA CONVENTION was signed by 248 representatives of Afro Descendant Civil Society and sent to PFPAD President Epsy Campbell Bar. On May 30th, the draft Request for an Advisory Opinion from the ICJ was delivered to PFPAD President Epsy Campbell Barr at the 2nd Session of PFPAD held in New York. And finally, on July 25, 2023, PFPAD President Epsy Campbell Barr responded that, “As President of this space, I have requested the incorporation of this item in the agenda of the next meeting, to proceed to analyze it jointly.”
Since then, a number of developments have occurred. Caribbean countries are considering approaching the UN’s international court of justice (ICJ) for a legal opinion on demanding compensation from 10 European countries over slavery. The prime minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves said a decision on a formal approach to the ICJ to receive a legal advisory would probably be taken in August at a meeting of a prime ministerial subcommittee on reparations of the Caribbean countries in August led by the Barbados prime minister, Mia Mottley.
“This is a very serious matter,” said Gonsalves. “We have had some legal work done already prepared,” he added, saying the issue was gaining “more and more traction” in Europe.
“We are at the stage where we probably will go to the international court of justice for an advisory opinion, but there are other parallel activities which are taking place and this is gathering momentum,” he told the Guardian in Brussels.
The roundtable in Barbados was held, but Balanta Society President Siphiwe Baleka, who has been the leading force and drafter of the ICJ Request was not invited. Reports from that meeting, however, showed that CARICOM has its own vision for reparations and any request for an ICJ Advisory Opinion coming from CARICOM will come from a different point of view and ask a different set of questions than those originally posed by civil society attending PFPAD.
Additionally, the Brattle Group Report on Reparations for Transatlantic Chattel Slavery, was published with Judge Patrick Robinson, a leading judge at the International Court of Justice playing an instrumental role. In response to these events, Mr. Baleka wrote,
“The fact that an ICJ Judge was a consultant on this report ought to signal to us (civil society) to become more active and vocal about getting an iCJ Advisory Opinion. Remember, this is what Malcolm and Imari Obadele wanted - to get this thing into an international court.... let's finish the unfinished business. It's not for one person (me) to do it alone. We need people to build a movement and especially to get PFPAD to make the Request now. Why are we waiting until April of next year to discuss it again instead of just initiating the process whereby the ICJ can discuss it?
It has now been brought to our attention that others seeking an ICJ Advisory Opinion are objecting to the framework and narrative that emphasizes that the people taken from Africa were not slaves but were taken as prisoners of war. The African Union is signaling that it is ready to enter the reparations arena by working with CARICOM and its Ten Point plan which is mostly a development plan rather than a self determination plan. Mr. Baleka’s concern is that if the Barbados group or any other group initiates separate requests for an Advisory Opinion, it may have negative consequences, especially if the right questions are not asked. The ICJ may not appreciate multiple requests on essentially the same subject with different questions. There is the risk of diluting the original, most powerful request that was presented to PFPAD President Epsy Campbell Barr to sign or that the campaign initiated by Afro Descendant civil society will become the victime of elite capture by lawyers and government officials. Towards an effort to preserve the interest of civil society, Christopher Jones, the male co-chair of the IDPAD Coalition U.K., has drafted the following letter. If you support his call to preserve the original MANDATE FROM THE AFRO DESCENDANT PEOPLE ISSUED TO THE PERMANENT FORUM ON PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT TO REQUEST AN ADVISORY OPINION FROM THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE ON THEIR STATUS AS PRISONERS OF WAR UNDER THE GENEVA CONVENTION that was signed by 248 representatives of Afro Descendant Civil Society and sent to PFPAD President Epsy Campbell Bar, please complete the form below.
Carol Ammons, State Representative, Illinois 103rd, USA
Siphiwe Baleka, Balanta B'urassa History and Genealogy Society in America Guinea Bissau
Andre Queen, Balanta B'rassa, USA
Nnamdi Sobukwe, All african people revolutionary party, USA
Dr. LaWana Richmond, United States
Christopher Buchanan El, Parliament Organics Non-profit, United States
Sticks Nkambule, SWATCAWU, Swaziland
Morgan Moss JR, Ubuntu National & International Trade & Education, (UNITE), United States
Im Manu El Bey, Universal Human Rights Coalition, America
Jose Lingna Nafafe, University of Bristol, UK United Kingdom
Phillip Beckles-Raymond, University of West London, United Kingdom
KEVIN EDWARDS, Antigua and Barbuda
Kofi Adjepong, FOADBO, Ghana
Mindstro XBOOM ! - Black Opinion On Matters, UK
MaryJo Copeland, Personal Racial Reconciliation Group in Fairfax, VA, United States
Darren Crenshaw, Street Salvation Ministries / New Afrikan Tribal Collective, United States of America
Isegunti Agau Kpossou, New Afrikan Tribal Collective. Loyal House of Isegunti, USA
Aaron Ammons, Champaign County Cletk, Illinois, USA
Jabari Lane, Community Healing Network, United States
Matt Meyer, International Peace Research Association, United States
Sherry A Suttles, Republic of New Afrika, Gullah Jack District, as of 10-13-23, United States
Kofi Ansa, Balanta Burassa, United States
Kamm Howard, Reparations United, United States
Ashraf Cassiem, Anti Eviction Campaign (Cape Town, Chicago,Los Angeles), South Africa
Vincent Woods, United States
Christopher Buchanan El, Parliament Organics Non-profit, United States
William Lee, Balanta, USA
Nicole Holmes, Balanta B'urassa History and Genealogy Society in America, Guinea Bissau/USA
Gabriella Beckles-Raymond, England
Curtis Murphy, Fihankra, Ghana
Pamella Campbell, GACuk GLOBAL AFRIKAN CONGRESSuk, Uk
PATRICK PASSLEY LVO, GLOBAL AFRIKAN CONGRESS, UKUNITED KINGDOM
Dorritt Akinbobola, Joint Council of churches for All Nations, United Kingdom
Neil Miller, England
Judy Richards,Nebaioth Prophetic Ministies.United Kingdom
Audrey Eccleston, Joint Council of Churches for all Nations, United Kingdom
Gifford Rhamie, Rockstone Consultancy, United Kingdom
NZABI MISAMU, DYNAMIC MATONGE, BELGIUM
Iman Uqdah Hameen, Pan African Veterans and Elders of the Diaspora (PAVED), United States
Jeanne Dubose, United States
Maynard Henry, N'COBRA, United States
Vincent Woods, United States
Tafari Thompson, Ethiopia Africa Black International Congress, Bahamas
Olatunji Mwamba, United States
Sengbe El-Bey, Balanta B'urassa Society, USA
William Lee, USA
Elsie Gayle, IDPAD Coalition, UK
Laurel Klafehn, United States
Kwaku Kwaku, TAOBQ (The African Or Black Question), UK
Cecile Johnson, African Development Plan, United States
Heru Menelik, Rastafari Inity Council of Jamaica, Jamaica
Nicole Holmes,Balanta B’urassa Historical Society In American, USA
Linda Tinsley, United States
Joe Washington, The Nia Foundation, Italy
Sher Griffin, Saybrook University, United States