A United Nations committee said countries are legally obliged ​to consider reparations for the transatlantic slave trade and take other measures to address ‌the enduring legacy of racial discrimination it says persists today, Reuters reported on Monday, August 31.

Guidance published on Monday by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination stated that the obligations arise from a legally binding 1965 convention on racial discrimination, not from ​the legal standards that existed when the slave trade took place.

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The committee described the ​approach as a "paradigm shift" away from debates over historical responsibility that have often ⁠been used by governments to resist reparations claims.

"States Parties must implement comprehensive reparatory measures for people ​of African descent, covering all aspects of remedies," said the U.N. document, which may be cited ​in courtrooms.

At least 12.5 million Africans were taken and sold between the 15th and 19th centuries in what the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called the largest forced displacement in history.

Calls for reparations - ranging from official ​apologies to financial compensation - have gained momentum internationally, though opponents argue states and institutions should not be ​held responsible for historical crimes.

The European Union and Britain abstained from a U.N. resolution on slavery in March.

Some ‌states ⁠have sought to dodge claims for justice in courtrooms by arguing that there were no international laws outlawing the slave trade at the time - the so-called intertemporality principle.

But the U.N. document argues that, regardless of whether slavery and the slave trade were illegal under the laws of the day, countries ​remain responsible under current ​international obligations to tackle ⁠their continuing effects.

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