The Tribune

By RUPERT MISSICK Jr

THE Bahamas’ National Reparations Committee will be fully constituted soon after CARICOM heads meet to discuss the issue of reparations at their next meeting on February 18, Committee Chairperson Alfred Sears told The Tribune.

Fourteen Caribbean nations are suing the governments of the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands for reparations over what the plaintiffs say is the lingering legacy of the Atlantic slave trade.

National Reparations Committees are being established in each member state. The chair and co-chair of the Bahamas’ commission are Mr Sears, who is the country’s former Attorney General and former MP Philip Smith.

Both men returned to the Bahamas from Barbados last week after attending a meeting of the national committees of all member states. The gathering was briefed by Martyn Day, senior partner at the UK based firm Leigh Day.

Day, who is one of the UK’s best known claimant lawyers, discussed strategy and the region’s legal options going forward.

CARICOM’s choice to consult Leigh Day is significant. Not only does the firm specialise in international liability claims, it has had some historic David vs Goliath-style wins.

Leigh Day also represented former Kenyan soldiers in the Mau Mau uprising who sued the UK government for compensation for torture. The firm also represented Colombian farmers against BP for damage caused to farms in the north of the country and Iraqis alleging torture by British soldiers.

The issue of reparations is an emotional one, not only because it addresses the uncomfortable and shameful legacy of slavery and the history of systematic discrimination that followed; but because it also involves the issue of blame. The question requires there to be an injured party and someone who has caused the injury.

This has left many persons asking, who, centuries after the fact, is to blame and who, centuries after those who were enslaved are gone, are entitled to be compensated?

For Mr Sears, the answer is clear. The debate, he said, should not be conducted in a recriminatory manner in so far as there are no individuals to hold responsible

“It is the governments of these nations who are responsible, it is the state. Slavery was organized by the state and the machinery of the state went into financing and organizing the triangular trade. States like England and France were direct participants in this trade. They also provided the legal and military infrastructure, as well as the social infrastructure to justify and perpetrate it,” Mr Sears said.

The former attorney general said that this is also not a matter of individuals receiving personal remuneration.

“What CARICOM wants is an acknowledgment that the legacy (of slavery) continues to exist and an apology. And rather than seeing reparations for individuals we are looking for schemes that address the legacy of oppression,” Mr Sears said.

For the youth of the region, Mr Sears said, this would mean programmes that would help to repair the negative perceptions they hold of themselves. He also said that, along with the support of regional cultural institutions, it could mean the return of historical and cultural artifacts to the region from museums in Europe.

The committees are also investigating the pattern of trade between the former colonies and the colonizers along with the possibility of debt cancellation.

The Bahamas’ National Reparations Committee will be embarking on a full slate of education and consultation programmes in the near future. The body is expected to be fully constituted following a meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government in Haiti from February 18-19.