African Union states intend to appeal to the International Court of Justice to demand compensation for the transatlantic slave trade.
The UK, France, Spain, and Portugal may become defendants in the lawsuit, reports a correspondent for the online publication Belnovosti.
RIA Novosti received this information from The Daily Telegraph, which cited sources in diplomatic circles.
According to the publication, African countries view the slave trade as a crime against humanity and intend to seek reparations to compensate for the damage caused by centuries of exploitation of the continent.
The legal basis for the lawsuit will be precedents for payments for historical crimes, including German compensation for Holocaust victims, US payments to Japanese Americans interned during World War II, and compensation that London paid to victims of human rights violations in colonial Kenya.
The African Union emphasizes that the lawsuit against the European powers is being prepared based on the model of Mauritius' successful legal campaign, which, after years of litigation in international courts, succeeded in obtaining a transfer of sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago from the United Kingdom.
The agreement to hand over the islands was signed in May 2025, although the process was nearly thwarted by a temporary injunction filed by the indigenous Chagos women.
British official circles are already expressing concern about the scale of possible financial claims.
According to estimates by the American consulting firm Brattle Group, which prepared the study with the participation of a judge of the International Court of Justice, the UK alone could face demands for reparations totaling approximately $24 trillion.
Experts also point out that more than 30 countries may be eligible for compensation from Western states for the consequences of the transatlantic slave trade.
As Ugandan Judge Martin Okumu Masiga, Legal Adviser to the African Union, notes, international practice allows for compensation to be collected for historical crimes even decades later.
He recalled that Germany continues to pay reparations for the Holocaust, and this creates an important precedent for African states.
The African Union also emphasizes that reparations should not be seen simply as financial payments, but as an attempt to address the economic inequality between Africa and the countries of the Global North, which is largely a legacy of the colonial era and centuries-old slave trade.
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