Caribbean Nations to Seek Reparations

Caribbean Nations to Seek Reparations, Putting Price on Damage of Slavery

By Stephen Castle, The New York Times

For the original article:  Click here

LONDON — In a 2008 biography he wrote of an antislavery campaigner, Britain’s foreign secretary, William Hague, described the trade in human beings as an indefensible barbarity, “brutal, mercenary and inhumane from its beginning to its end.”

William Hague, the British foreign secretary, said he deeply regretted the slave trade, but in a statement his office dismissed paying reparations.

Fourteen Caribbean countries that once sustained that slave economy now want Mr. Hague to put his money where his mouth is.

Spurred by a sense of injustice that has lingered for two centuries, the countries plan to compile an inventory of the lasting damage they believe they suffered and then demand an apology and reparations from the former colonial powers of Britain, France and the Netherlands.

To present their case, they have hired a firm of London lawyers that this year won compensation from Britain for Kenyans who were tortured under British colonial rule in the 1950s.

Britain outlawed the slave trade in 1807, but its legacy remains. In 2006, Tony Blair, then prime minister, expressed his “deep sorrow” over the slave trade; the Dutch social affairs minister, Lodewijk Asscher, made a similar statement in July.

Britain has already paid compensation over the abolition of the slave trade once — but to slave owners, not their victims. Britain transported more than three million Africans across the Atlantic, and the impact of the trade was vast. Historians estimate that, in the Victorian era, between one-fifth and one-sixth of all wealthy Britons derived at least some of their fortunes from the slave economy.

Yet the issue of apologies — let alone reparations — for the actions of long-dead leaders and generals remains a touchy one all over the globe. Turkey refuses to take particular responsibility for the mass deaths of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, let alone call the event a genocide, as the French Parliament has done. It was not until 1995 that France’s president at the time, Jacques Chirac, apologized for the crimes against the Jews of the Vichy government. The current French president, François Hollande, conceded last year that France’s treatment of Algeria, its former colony, was “brutal and unfair.” But he did not go so far as to apologize.

His predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy, offered an aid and debt-cancellation package to Haiti in 2010 while acknowledging the “wounds of colonization.”

In Britain, in 1997, Mr. Blair described the potato famine in Ireland in the late 1840s as “something that still causes pain as we reflect on it today,” but suffering pain is not the same thing as making a formal apology.

For some, such comments do not go far enough, particularly when some European nations, like postwar Germany, have apologized — the former chancellor Willy Brandt went to his knees at the Warsaw Ghetto in 1970 — and paid reparations for Nazi crimes.

Caribbean nations argue that their brutal past continues, to some extent, to enslave them today.

“Our constant search and struggle for development resources is linked directly to the historical inability of our nations to accumulate wealth from the efforts of our peoples during slavery and colonialism,” said Baldwin Spencer, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, in July this year. Reparations, he said, must be directed toward repairing the damage inflicted by slavery and racism.

Martyn Day, the senior partner at Leigh Day, the London law firm acting for the Caribbean countries, said a case could start next year at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, a tribunal that adjudicates legal disputes among states.

“What happened in the Caribbean and West Africa was so egregious we feel that bringing a case in the I.C.J. would have a decent chance of success,” Mr. Day said. “The fact that you were subjugating a whole class of people in a massively discriminatory way has no parallel,” he added.

Some Caribbean nations have already begun assessing the lasting damage they suffered, ranging from stunted educational and economic opportunities to dietary and health problems, Mr. Day said.

Critics contend that it makes no sense to try to redress wrongs that reach back through the centuries, and that Caribbean countries already receive compensation through development aid.

The legal terrain is not encouraging. Though several American and British companies have apologized for links to slavery, efforts by descendants of 19th-century African-American slaves to seek reparations from corporations in American courts have so far come to little. And, unlike the successful case made in Britain by Kenyans tortured during the Mau Mau uprising, there are no victims of slavery to present in court.

Even that case was disputed initially by a British government worried that it would expose itself to claims from numerous former colonies. And when he agreed to pay compensation, Mr. Hague insisted this was not a precedent.

Though Parliament abolished the Atlantic slave trade in 1807, the law took years to put into effect. In 1833, Parliament spent £20 million compensating former slave owners — 40 percent of government expenditure that year, according to estimates by Nick Draper of University College, London, who estimates the present-day value at about $21 billion.

Mr. Draper’s work traced recipients of compensation and showed they included ancestors of the authors Graham Greene and George Orwell, as well as a very distant relative of Prime Minister David Cameron.

But the prospects for a modern-day legal case for reparations by victims are far from clear. Roger O’Keefe, deputy director of the Lauterpacht Center for International Law at Cambridge University, said that “there is not the slightest chance that this case will get anywhere,” describing it as “an international legal fantasy.”

He argues that while the Netherlands and Britain have accepted the court’s jurisdiction in advance, Britain excluded disputes relating to events arising before 1974.

“Reparation may be awarded only for what was internationally unlawful when it was done,” Dr. O’Keefe said, “and slavery and the slave trade were not internationally unlawful at the time the colonial powers engaged in them.”

Even lawyers for the Caribbean countries hint that a negotiated settlement, achieved through public and diplomatic pressure, may be their best hope. “We are saying that, ultimately, historical claims have been resolved politically — although I think we will have a good claim in the I.C.J.,” Mr. Day said.

Mr. Hague’s own views add an intriguing dimension. In his biography of Britain’s most famous abolitionist, William Wilberforce, Mr. Hague highlighted many atrocities of slavery, including a case in 1783 involving a slave ship that ran out of drinking water, prompting its captain to throw 133 slaves overboard so he could claim insurance for lost cargo.

In 2007, on the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the trade, Mr. Hague spoke of his deep regret over “an era in which the sale of men, women and children was carried out lawfully on behalf of this country, and on such a vast scale that it became a large and lucrative commercial enterprise.”

But as foreign secretary, Mr. Hague is opposed to compensation. In a statement, his office said that while Britain “condemns slavery” and is committed to eliminating it where it still exists, “we do not see reparations as the answer.”

The question about Reparation has been going on for decades.  The Japanese were compensation for being put into concentration camps in the U.S.  The Jews were given their own state... out of guilt for what Germany did to them.  In both cases, these people on suffered for a short period of time (and I do not demean their experiences one bit).  Blacks were slaves for hundreds of years.  And even when freed, they were still treated like second class citizens.  Raped, murdered, terrorized... shall I go on?

Someone asked me once about how reparations should be administered if ever awarded.  That is a tough question really.  Money is a simple solution but I would expect more.  It isn't about the money for me.  It's about recognition of the atrocity.  Just like you can never question that the Holocaust happened,  I would want a reminder of the past that can be passed down through generations.  Learning from the past in order to build towards the future.

Government Shutdown 2013

By Simon Moya-Smith and Andrew Rafferty, NBC News

Government agencies were directed to "execute plans for an orderly shutdown" late Monday as Congress failed to pass a funding bill that would prevent the disruption of some government services.

The Office of Management and Budget, tasked with administering the shutdown, urged Congress "to restore the operation of critical public services and programs" impacted by the failure of the House and Senate to reach an agreement on how to continue funding the government by 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

While the most essential government services will basically continue business as usual, the lack of funding for many others will be a minor headache for some Americans, and a serious concern for others.

In remarks Monday, President Barack Obama said children, seniors, and women would be "hamstrung" if the government were to shut down.

"The shutdown will have a very real impact on real people right away," he said.

The details of a shutdown are left to the executive branch of government and the Office of Management and Budget has so far not provided specific details. But based on past shutdowns — and comments made by the president himself on Monday, here are some guidelines on what could happen:

FEDERAL WORKERS

The president on Monday said that hundreds of thousands of government employees working around the world would see their paychecks delayed by a government stoppage. Hundreds of thousands more will be indefinitely furloughed come midnight Monday if a funding bill is not passed, according to the president.

"What of course will not be furloughed is the bills they'll need to pay, their mortgages their tuition payments, their car notes...They would be hurt greatly and as a consequence all of us would be hurt greatly should Congress choose to shut the people's government down," Obama said. 


The Congressional Budget Office, responsible for calculating the financial impact of proposed legislation, announced it would be "largely shut down" if government is no longer funded. The Merit Systems Protection Board, tasked with overseeing merit promotions for federal employees, announced it would "cease all operations" if no funding agreement is reached.

Most employees of the Environmental Protection Agency and  Futures Trading Commission will also be furloughed, according to the agencies.

 

Larry Downing / Reuters file

A jet departs Washington's Reagan National Airport next to the control tower outside Washington, in February.

AIR TRAVEL

Federal air traffic controllers would likely remain on the job and airport screeners would keep funneling passengers through security checkpoints. Federal inspectors would continue enforcing safety rules.

INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

The State Department could continue processing foreign applications for visas and U.S. applications for passports, since fees are collected to finance those services. Embassies and consulates overseas would continue to provide services to American citizens.

However, the State Department warned this week that consular operations at home and abroad would only remain open as long as "there are sufficient fees to support operations."

Between 20-30,000 applications for visas went unprocessed each of the 27 days the government was halted in the mid-90s, according to the Congressional Research Service . Nearly 200,000 U.S. applications for passports went unprocessed, causing millions of dollars in losses for U.S. tourism industries and airlines, according to the report.

BENEFIT PAYMENTS

Social Security and Medicare benefits would keep coming, but there could be delays in processing new disability applications. Unemployment benefits would still go out. However, services like replacing lost Social Security cards or receive assistance for disability hearings.

All sides seem to agree on one thing -- a government shutdown may be increasingly likely. The shutdown could impact national parks, international travel and some workers. NBC's Kristen Welker reports.

FEDERAL COURTS

Federal courts would continue operating normally for about 10 business days after the start of a shutdown, roughly until the middle of October. If the shutdown continues, the judiciary may have to begin furloughs of employees whose work is not considered essential. But cases would continue to be heard.

The Justice Department announced they will suspend many civil cases, but criminal litigation will continue without interruption.

MAIL

Deliveries would continue as usual because the U.S. Postal Service receives no tax dollars for day-to-day operations. It relies on income from stamps and other postal fees to keep running.

RECREATION

Olivier Hoslet / EPA file

The crew of the old sailing vessel Clipper sails between Manhattan and Libetry Island as the sun sets in New York City, on Sept. 19.

All national parks would likely be closed, as would the Smithsonian museums, including the National Zoo in Washington. Visitors using overnight campgrounds or other park facilities would be given 48 hours to make alternate arrangements and leave the park. Among the visitor centers that would be closed: the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in New York, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Alcatraz Island near San Francisco and the Washington Monument. Staffing will be held to "the very minimum to perform essential functions," according to the Department of the Interior, meaning many of its 70,000 employees could be furloughed.

The closing of 368 National Parks Service sites resulted in the loss of an estimated 7 million visitors during the 1995 and 1996 shutdowns, according to a Congressional Research Service report released in August. Closure of national museums and monuments resulted in the loss of an estimated 2 million visitors and millions of dollars of revenue to the surrounding community.

HEALTH

New patients would not be accepted into clinical research at the National Institutes of Health, but current patients would continue to receive care. Medical research at the NIH would be disrupted and some studies would be delayed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be severely limited in spotting or investigating disease outbreaks, from flu to that mysterious MERS virus from the Middle East.

FOOD SAFETY

The Food and Drug Administration would handle high-risk recalls and possibly suspend most routine safety inspections. Federal meat inspections would be expected to proceed as usual.

HEAD START

A small number of Head Start programs, about 20 out of 1,600 nationally, would feel the impact right away. The federal Administration for Children and Families says grants expiring about Oct. 1 would not be renewed. Over time more programs would be affected. Several of the Head Start programs that would immediately feel the pinch are in Florida. It's unclear if they would continue serving children.

FOOD ASSISTANCE

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC, could shut down. The program provides supplemental food, health care referrals and nutrition education for pregnant women, mothers and their children.
School lunches and breakfasts would continue to be served, and food stamps, known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, would continue to be distributed. But several smaller feeding programs would not have the money to operate.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said senior nutrition grants, which provides meals for 2.5 million elderly Americans, would not be funded in the event of a shutdown.

TAXES

Shannon Stapleton / Reuters file

A woman walks out of the Internal Revenue Service building in New York in May.

Americans would still have to pay their taxes and file federal tax returns, but the Internal Revenue Service says it would suspend all audits. Got questions? Sorry, the IRS says taxpayer services, including toll-free help lines, would be shut as well.

LOANS

Many low-to-moderate incomes borrowers and first-time homebuyers seeking government-backed mortgages could face delays during the shutdown. The Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees about 30 percent of home mortgages, wouldn't underwrite or approve any new loans during the shutdown. Action on government-backed loans to small businesses would be suspended.

SCIENCE

NASA "will be shut down almost entirely," the president said. Only workers at Mission Control in Houston and elsewhere will keep working to support the International Space station, where two Americans and four others are deployed. The National Weather Service would keep forecasting weather and issuing warnings and the National Hurricane Center would continue to track storms. The scientific work of the U.S. Geological Survey would be halted.

HOMELAND SECURITY

The majority of the Department of Homeland Security's employees are expected to stay on the job, including uniformed agents and officers at the country's borders and ports of entry, members of the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration officers, Secret Service personnel and other law enforcement agents and officers. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees would continue to process green card applications. However E-Verify would not be available for businesses to check whether a prospective employee is a documented worker

MILITARY

The president on Monday signed legislation to ensure the military's 1.4 million active duty personnel would still be paid during a shut down.

"If you're serving in harm's way, we're going to make sure you have what you need to succeed in your missions.  Congress has passed, and I am signing into law, legislation to make sure you get your paychecks on time.  And we'll continue working to address any impact this shutdown has on you and your families," Obama said in a video message to American military and their families.

Still, about half of the Defense Department's civilian employees could still be furloughed.

PRISONS

All 116 federal prisons would remain open, and criminal litigation would proceed. Prison guards’ pay may be delayed.

VETERANS SERVICES

Most services offered through the Department of Veterans Affairs will continue because lawmakers approve money one year in advance for the VA's health programs. Veterans would still be able to visit hospitals for inpatient care, get mental health counseling at vet centers or get prescriptions filled at VA health clinics.

"Veterans who have sacrificed for their country will find their support centers unstaffed," Obama said.

Claims workers would still process payments to cover disability and pension benefits. But veterans appealing the denial of disability benefits to the Board of Veterans Appeals would have to wait longer for a decision because the board could not issue any decisions during a shutdown.


Carney said during Monday's briefing that veterans' call centers "will be close immediately" if the government shuts down.

WORK SAFETY

Federal occupational safety and health inspectors would likely stop workplace inspections except in cases of imminent danger.