The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission), meeting at its 39th Extra-Ordinary Session, held virtually from 8th to 13th December 2025;
Recalling its mandate under Article 45 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter) to promote and protect human and peoples’ rights;
Further Recalling Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.884(XXXVII) of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU), held on 17–18 February 2024 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, adopting the Theme of the Year 2025: “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations”;
Welcoming Executive Council Decision EX.CL/Dec. 1622 (XLVII) of the African Union declaring an AU Decade on Reparations spanning from 2026-2036, to run side by side with the UN Second International Decade for People of African Descent, to ensure synergy/complementarity and progress in pursuing the reparations agenda;
Noting that the AU Theme of the Year 2025 is complemented by the Second International Decade for People of African Descent, as proclaimed by the United Nations (UN), spanning from January 2025 to December 2034, aiming to address the ongoing challenges faced by people of African descent, particularly the legacies of slavery and colonialism;
Recalling, in particular, its Resolution on Africa’s Reparations Agenda and the Human Rights of Africans in the Diaspora and People of African Descent Worldwide – ACHPR/Res.543 (LXXIII) 2022; its Resolution on Reparations and the African Union’s Sixth Region – ACHPR/Res.616 (LXXXI) 2024;
Further Recalling its Resolution on Transitional Justice in Africa – ACHPR/Res.235 (LIII) 2013 and the African Commission’s Study on Transitional Justice and Human and Peoples’ Rights adopted in 2018 as well as the African Union’s Transitional Justice Policy adopted by the AU Assembly in February 2019;
Mindful of continental and international efforts, including the Abuja Proclamation on Reparations for African Enslavement, Colonization and Neo-Colonization, and the Accra Declaration on Reparations and Racial Healing.
Recognizing the lasting adverse impact of enslavement, deportation, colonialism, and related systems of oppression, whose legacies, including racial discrimination, continue to affect Africans and people of African descent;
Acknowledging the complexity of reparatory justice and the need for coherent standards, institutional architecture, policy guidance, and sustained implementation and follow-up;
The Commission:
1. Reaffirms its commitment to promote and protect human and peoples’ rights in Africa and to contribute to the implementation of the African Union Theme of the Year 2025, “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations,” in accordance with its mandate under the African Charter;
2. Welcomes and reaffirms the decision of the AU Assembly Decision Assembly/AU/Dec.934(XXXVIII) on the classification of slavery, colonialism, and deportation as crimes against humanity and genocide against the peoples of Africa as part of the AU theme of the year;
3. Further encourages the adoption of relevant policy measures for advancing reparations for these historical injustices in their international engagements both individually and collectively as part of the effort to realise the objectives of regional and international human rights standards; and
4. Calls upon Member States to facilitate voluntary heritage and ancestry tracing for people of African descent with appropriate safeguards for privacy and data protection, and to consider pathways for residency, citizenship, and mobility in accordance with national laws.
Done during the 39th Extra-Ordinary Session, held from 8th to 13th December 2025, virtually.
