Jamaica is asking Britain to address its legal responsibility for slavery as the country pursues an estimated $10 billion in reparations.
On Monday (September 7), Jamaican Culture Minister Olivia Grange filed a petition asking King Charles III to refer questions about slavery in Jamaica to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The questions include whether enslaving Africans was lawful under English law, whether slavery violated international law and whether Britain has a legal obligation to provide a remedy, according to Al Jazeera.
The petition does not seek an immediate $10 billion payment. Grange said Jamaica wants the legal questions answered before determining its next steps.
The reparations estimate comes as Jamaica continues to address the effects of more than 300 years of British colonial rule.
British merchants enslaved and forcibly transported between 600,000 and 1 million Africans to Jamaica between the 17th century and early 19th century, Al Jazeera reported.
When slavery was abolished in the British Empire in 1833, the British government agreed to pay slave owners £20 million, worth about $2.6 billion today, for the loss of their enslaved “property.” The payment represented about 40% of the British Treasury’s annual income at the time, according to Al Jazeera.
The British government has continued to reject reparations for historical slavery.
Officials reiterated this week that the U.K. “does not and will not pay reparations,” according to another Al Jazeera report.
King Charles does not personally decide whether Jamaica's questions will be referred to the Judicial Committee. He acts on the advice of the British government, according to The Associated Press.
Jamaica’s petition was filed on the anniversary of the 1781 Zong massacre, when 132 enslaved Africans were thrown overboard from a British slave ship so its owners could seek insurance compensation.
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