JAMAICA PETITIONS KING CHARLES OVER LEGALITY OF SLAVERY AND REPARATIONS

LONDON, SEPTEMBER 6 /SRNA/ — Tomorrow, the Jamaican Government will petition British King Charles over reparations for slavery, Jamaican Culture Minister Olivia Grange stated.

She says the petition will ask the King, who is formally Jamaica's head of state, to refer three questions to the Judicial Committee concerning the legality of the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica.

The questions will address whether the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica was legal under English law, whether it violated international law, and whether Britain now has a legal obligation to pay reparations.

Grange said this could pave the way for a long-awaited resolution "to hundreds of years of the most terrible abuse suffered by our African ancestors", the BBC reported.

She will also meet with representatives of the British Museum to discuss the return of artefacts taken during the colonial era.

The petition, which does not constitute a direct demand for financial compensation, will not be delivered to the King personally but to the secretary of the Judicial Committee.