The transatlantic slave trade, which took place between 1500 and 1866 and saw approximately 12.5 million Africans forcibly transported across the Atlantic, with an estimated 2 million dying during the Middle Passage, has now been formally declared a crime against humanity by the United Nations General Assembly.

The landmark resolution, adopted yesterday, also calls for reparations as part of global efforts to acknowledge and redress the profound historical injustices inflicted on African people and their descendants.

Professor Thulasizwe Simpson, Associate Professor in the Department of Historical & Heritage Studies at the University of Pretoria, notes that the scale and brutality of the transatlantic slave trade remain among the darkest chapters in human history, with long‑lasting social, economic and cultural consequences still felt across the globe.

Sisi Segalo has more on the story.

The transatlantic slave trade, which took place between 1500 and 1866 and saw approximately 12.5 million Africans forcibly transported across the Atlantic, with an estimated 2 million dying during the Middle Passage, has now been formally declared a crime against humanity by the United Nations General Assembly.
The landmark resolution, adopted yesterday, also calls for reparations as part of global efforts to acknowledge and redress the profound historical injustices inflicted on African people and their descendants.
Professor Thulasizwe Simpson, Associate Professor in the Department of Historical &amp; Heritage Studies at the University of Pretoria, notes that the scale and brutality of the transatlantic slave trade remain among the darkest chapters in human history, with long‑lasting social, economic and cultural consequences still felt across the globe.
Sisi Segalo has more on the story.