By: Staff Writer
October 23, 2026
The CARICOM Reparations Commission is urging King Charles III to address reparations for slavery upon his visit to the region on October 27 to November 4, citing the need to begin the conversations with integrity.
Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Chairman of the CARICOM Reparations Commission, said at Thursday’s media briefing that the committee rejects the noise in the market that seeks to divide the Caribbean diaspora on whether there is a need for reparations.
“There are many people in this conversation who do not believe, as we do, that reparative justice is about enlightenment. It is about support and the good of the human species. It’s a moral crusade. We are stating very, very clearly for the world now that the conversation must begin with integrity.”
Beckles is appealing to King Charles III ahead of his visit to the Caribbean where the King is expected to speak briefly about reparations for descendants of slavery but not go in depth.
Outspoken critics of the King’s visit have agreed with Beckles and the committee in that the topic of reparations should be met head on during the royal visit.
Beckles also said that the conversations should be had. “The time has come for governments to begin this dialog. The time has come for governments on all sides, following the United Nations resolutions, to begin this dialog of decency. CARICOM is at the centre of this. The African Union is at the centre of this. We are calling for the restoration of human dignity and the creation of a process of building partnerships, partnerships for development, partnerships for human progress.”
Professor Verene A. Shepherd is a prominent Jamaican social historian, academic, and vice chair of the reparations committee also said: “We have already seen the internationalization of the movement and the growing involvement of UN bodies and officials and member states like Ghana in this fight for justice.
“Many of us sat in the UNGA on March 25 this year and witnessed how 123 states agreed that the trafficking of enslaved Africans and racialized chattel enslavement of Africans was the greatest crime against humanity, with reparations as a key element in the fight for justice for that crime.”
On 25 March 2026 — the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade — States at the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring that the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and the racialised slavery that followed constituted the ‘gravest crime against humanity’.
Sponsored by Ghana and supported by the African Union (AU) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) States, Resolution A/80/L.48, was adopted by a decisive majority of 123 votes in favour, including the majority of States in Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region. There were 52 abstentions and three votes against – from the United States, Israel and Argentina.
ISHR and our partners in the global movement for racial justice, including the UN Antiracism Coalition (UNARC), welcome this resolution as a significant victory for the many organisations, advocates, Maroon communities and families who have courageously advocated for reparatory justice.