Politics

São Tomé and Principe to demand reparations from Portugal

Published

5 months ago

May 3, 2024

The education and cultural minister of Sao Tome and Principe, an African island nation, announced on Thursday that the government would like Portugal to make up for the moral harm done by colonization.

The Sao Tome and Principe administration will draft and open a new tab for a plan to discuss compensation with Portugal, Minister Isabel Abreu said in a statement to Portugal’s Lusa news agency, adding that the process would take time.

According to Abreu, the topic will be covered at Thursday’s cabinet meeting. The request follows Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s assertion last week, when questioned by Reuters, that his nation was accountable for atrocities done during the colonial era and transatlantic slavery and that reparations were necessary.

His remarks provoked harsh criticism from right-wing parties and a national conversation. The centre-right Portuguese government, which holds administrative authority, declared that it will not start the process of making reparations payments, in contrast to Rebelo de Sousa’s remarks, which were conservative in the first place. Rather, it demanded reconciliation.

For more than 400 years, Portuguese ships abducted around 6 million Africans, forced them across the Atlantic, and sold them into slavery, mostly in Brazil.

Two weeks ago, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in an address at the closing of the four-day U.N. Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD), called on countries to take real steps toward reparations for people of African descent. He appealed while adding his voice to calls for justice for the horrible crimes committed during slavery.

During the Portuguese colonial era, Portugal ruled over nations including Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, East Timor, and certain Asian provinces.

Also reacting to Rebelo de Sousa’s comments, Mozambique’s ambassador to the United Nations welcomed the remarks and said that confronting the past was “already reparatory” but that it “would be even better if we could go beyond that”.

Cape Verde’s President Jose Maria Neves said on Monday there was a need for discussions to “reach an understanding and consensus on these matters”.

Anielle Franco, Brazil’s Minister of Racial Equality, informed news outlet G1 that her staff was speaking with the Portuguese authorities about the matter.

Among other reasons, reparations opponents contend that modern states and organizations shouldn’t be held accountable for slavery in the past. Advocates argue that states today continue to profit from the wealth created by hundreds of years of labor without compensation, and that action is necessary to redress the legacy of slavery on underprivileged populations.

Although it is still hotly debated, the idea of making additional amends or paying reparations for transatlantic slavery has been gaining traction globally. Reparations were required, according to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, last month to end “generations of discrimination”.

Related Topics:Featured Reparation Sao Tome and Principe

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Politics

Tunisian court mandates electoral commission to reinstate presidential contenders

Published

6 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The highest court in Tunisia has issued an order requiring the electoral commission to re-enter two candidates for an October presidential election, cautioning that not doing so might compromise the election’s credibility.

The Administrative Court’s decision was made in rising political unrest in the nation of North Africa, where opposition parties and civil society organisations are concerned that a rigged election could give President Kais Saied a second term.

In the largest demonstration against constraints on liberties and the undemocratic electoral environment in Tunisia in two years, thousands of Tunisians came to the streets on Friday. Among the shouts screamed by the demonstrators was “Out with dictator Saied.”

Tensions increased after the electoral commission, citing purported flaws in their candidacy forms, rejected the court’s decision earlier this month to restore the candidatures of Abdellaif Mekki, Mondher Znaidi, and Imed Daimi ahead of the contest on October 6.

The president himself appointed the committee’s members, and major parties and civil society organisations claimed that this meant the president was using the inquiry as a weapon against his opponents.

Regarding the charges, commission president Farouk Bouasker has stated that “the commission is the only constitutional body entrusted with the integrity of the election” and refuted them. However, the commission must carry out its mandate and, if needed, revise the election schedule, the court ruled on Saturday. It’s unclear if this entails delaying the election or prolonging the campaign.

“Otherwise it would lead to an illegal situation that conflicts with the electoral law and the transparency of the electoral process”, it said.

Following their filing of a new complaint against the commission’s ruling, the court requested that Znaidi and Mekki be allowed to participate in the race. Daimi, the third contender, hasn’t yet submitted a second appeal.

After winning a democratic election in 2019, Saied strengthened his hold on power and started governing by decree in 2021—a move that the opposition has called a coup.

Politics

Under their new coalition, Mali, Burkina, Niger to launch biometric passports

Published

6 hours ago

September 16, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

As part of their departure from the West African bloc in favour of a new Sahel alliance, military authorities in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger will implement new biometric passports, the countries’ leaders announced on Sunday.

Together, the three Sahelian neighbours run by juntas declared in January that they would be exiting the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), despite efforts by the organisation to convince them otherwise.

In July, the three West African nations signed a confederation treaty demonstrating their will to forge on together outside of the regional political and economic bloc that has been pressuring them to revert to democratic governance.

Earlier this month, Burkina Faso declared that it will no longer be issuing passports with the ECOWAS emblem.

“In the coming days, a new biometric passport of the AES (Alliance of Sahel States) will be put into circulation with the aim of harmonising travel documents in our common area and facilitating the mobility of our citizens throughout the world”, Malian junta leader Assimi Goita announced on Sunday evening.

On the eve of the decision to form their alliance, the foreign ministers of the three nations will meet on Monday. He made this statement beforehand.

In addition, Goita announced that they intended to open a common information channel “to foster a peaceful exchange of information among our three states.”

Meanwhile, ECOWAS had warned that the 400 million residents of the 49-year-old bloc would lose their freedom of movement and access to the common market if the three countries were to exit,

Their withdrawal coincides with their troops fighting militants associated with the Islamic State and al Qaeda, whose insurgencies have caused instability in the area for the previous ten years and pose a threat to those bordering West Africa.