General News of 2026-09-23
Lula commends President Mahama for leadership on reparatory justice
President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has commended President John Dramani Mahama for his leadership in advancing the global campaign for reparatory justice over the legacy of slavery.
Addressing the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Lula praised Ghana’s efforts to secure international recognition of the trafficking and enslavement of Africans as the gravest crime against humanity.
“This General Assembly recently corrected a historical distortion in the world map. It recognised the trafficking of enslaved Africans as the gravest crime against humanity,” he said.
According to a report by citinewsroom.com on September 23, 2026, President Lula said the recognition should serve as a basis for broader international action, urging political leaders to confront historical injustices and address their continuing consequences.
President Mahama has subsequently called for the recognition of the historical injustice to be matched with sustained international action on reparatory justice.
Two global figures who have declared support for Mahama's reparatory justice campaign
As part of Ghana’s efforts, President Mahama announced in June the creation of three global panels to provide strategic, technical and legal support for the next phase of the reparation agenda, with the aim of strengthening international cooperation on the issue.
President Lula, in his address, said the global community must now focus on critical choices facing humanity, including multilateralism or unilateralism, democracy or extremism, and sovereignty or subordination.
“These choices require courage, political will, and clarity of objectives. This is what we expect from a statesman,” he said.
His comments follow Ghana’s leadership of a UN resolution adopted in March 2026, which declared the trafficking of enslaved Africans and the system of racialised chattel enslavement as “the gravest crime against humanity.”
The resolution received 123 votes in favour, while three countries voted against it and 52 abstained.
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