Members of Parliament pass private members’ motion
The motion was passed with the support of all eleven members on the government side, including the Attorney General, who were present.{{more}}
The eight opposition members present, however declined to vote on the motion, although most of them had, during the debate, indicated their support for reparations.
While debating, the opposition members had expressed dissatisfaction with section 4 of the resolution, which commended Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves for the role he played in the reparations struggle.
The private membersâ motion was moved last Thursday by Senator Jomo Thomas and seconded by Senator Luke Browne.
In his wrap up yesterday, Senator Thomas added a fifth section to the resolution in which he commended the role played by the rastafarian movement and other persons in educating the public about the need for reparations.
Please see the text of the Motion, before it was amended, below:
PRIVATE MEMBERSâ MOTION
STATE OF REPARATIONS EFFORT IN ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES
WHEREAS
before the advent of European colonialism, our indigenous population lived a very dignified and cultured existence with their own governance institutions;
AND WHEREAS
the intrusion into our region by colonial powers, especially Britain led to the conquest, subjugation and genocide of our people where after the capture and assassination of Paramount Chief and National Hero Joseph Chatoyer in 1795, close to 5,000 of our Garifuna ancestors were first exiled onto the island of Balliceaux, where some one-half or 50 percent of them met their death, and then to Roatan Island in the Bay of Honduras.
AND WHEREAS
the survivors of this genocide and forced deportation, who approximate over 600,000 are now living in Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the United States of America;
AND WHEREAS
all Garifuna people in exile recognise St Vincent and the Grenadines (Yurumein) as their ancestral homeland;
AND WHEREAS
the conquest and genocide or our Garifuna ancestors were the precursor of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and slavery in St Vincent and the Grenadines, which brought unspeakable, pain, and suffering to our people, not to mention the loss of our culture, history and religion.
AND WHEREAS
in the bulk of the Caribbean territories, the trading in, and enslavement of Africans were in train since the 16th and especially the 17th century onwards, until emancipation;
AND WHEREAS
the economies and fortunes of Europe, including Britain, were in the 17th, 18th and 19th century largely built upon the slave trade and slave labour;
AND WHEREAS
under the system of slavery, the British slave owners were guaranteed an abundant supply of free labour, which was critical to the productivity of their plantation agriculture, industry and commerce;
AND WHEREAS
by further political action, the British Parliament paid to the British slave owners a sum of £20 million as economic compensation for the loss of the slaves who formed a major component of their production machinery;
AND WHEREAS
no similar political action was taken by the British Parliament to compensate the former slaves or their descendants for their labour, which built the economies of Europe, including Great Britain, nor were the former slaves allowed to own land;
AND WHEREAS
the former slaves and their descendants should have been paid for their labour, which built the economies of Europe, including Britain;
AND WHEREAS
the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), of which St Vincent and the Grenadines is a member, took a decision to form a Prime Ministerial Committee of the Conference of Heads of State and Government to oversee the work of a CARICOM Reparation Commission on July 6, 2013 to pursue genocide and reparation claims against Britain and other former slave trading countries, including France and Holland;
BE IT RESOLVED
that this Honourable House endorse the decision of the governments of CARICOM member-states to pursue actively a claim for appropriate reparations from the European nations, including Britain, France and Holland on behalf of the people of the individual nation-states of the Caribbean Community, including St Vincent and the Grenadines, for the said native genocide and enslavement of their ancestors.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED
that the reparations claim be lodged within the framework of the Ten Point Reparation Agenda adopted by CARICOM at its International Heads of State and Government Conference, in March 2014, in St Vincent and the Grenadines.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED
that this Honourable House follows the lead of the Jamaican Parliament and enjoin other CARICOM countries to make similar political decisions on this matter, and that his Honourable House instructs the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines:
1. To give all practical political, diplomatic ad material support to the Caribbean Reparations Commission and the CARICOM Prime Ministerial Reparations Committee, whose Chair is the Prime Minister of Barbados, the right Honourable Freundel Stuart, in the quest to engage the former European slave holding nations in a developmental conversation, which will result in reparatory justice for the descendants of the Garifuna and those who endured and suffered through slavery.
2. To take this case of Genocide and Slavery to the International Court of Justice and any other juridical and political fora for reparatory justice on behalf of the people of St Vincent and the Grenadines within the framework of the Plan and Road Map for reparatory justice outlined by CARICOM;
3. To ensure proper funding of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Reparations Commission, which has already been established, to carry out the quest for reparatory justice;
4. To put on record its high regard and commendation to Prime Minister, Dr The Honourable Ralph E. Gonsalves in St Vincent and he Grenadines for his commitment to, and determination, in initiating the reparations conversation at the highest level of regional governmental authority and for pushing forward the fight against European Conquest, Genocide, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Slavery, Colonialism and for reparations.
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