Bouayach: Reparative Justice Must Address Africa’s Past and Present Wounds

Rabat – In a renewed call for dignity and justice, Amina Bouayach, President of Morocco’s National Human Rights Council (CNDH), delivered a compelling address on April 30, at the closing session of the African NGO Forum, hosted in Banjul, The Gambia. 

Speaking via video, Bouayach urged a comprehensive rethinking of “reparative justice” to address the enduring legacies of slavery, colonialism, and exploitation across the African continent.

“Africa has carried for centuries the burden of an unjust system,” Bouayach said, referring to how human exploitation — through slavery and colonial rule — fueled global wealth at the expense of Africa’s suffering and impoverishment.

She stressed that historical injustices — such as slavery, human trafficking, and colonial domination — stripped entire generations of their fundamental rights and left deep, lasting wounds.

These injustices, Bouayach noted, continue to affect African societies and the diaspora, which she described as “a living memory of historical suffering” and ongoing victims of global injustice.

Highlighting the complexity of reparations, Bouayach pointed to three key challenges: defining responsibility, ensuring feasibility, and clarifying the ultimate goal. She warned that financial or symbolic reparations alone are insufficient to heal historical trauma or address systemic inequality.

Instead, she advocated for a long-term, inclusive approach rooted in structural reform. Reparative justice, she emphasized, must actively involve affected communities and recognize their agency. Their inclusion is not only essential but also a formal acknowledgment of the rights denied to them for centuries.

Drawing from transitional justice experiences in Africa and Latin America, Bouayach noted that reparative justice mechanisms are feasible and effective when designed with intention and inclusivity. She framed reparations as a process of rebuilding societies on the basis of equality, dignity, and shared responsibility.

“Justice today must go beyond symbolic gestures,” Bouayach added, focusing on the need for economic justice at the heart of reparations. She proposed targeted development programs for historically marginalized communities and support for African-led initiatives across the economic, cultural, and social sectors — both on the continent and in the diaspora.

In conclusion, Bouayach highlighted the central role of national human rights institutions and civil society organizations. She called them vital actors in documenting the ongoing impact of historical crimes and advancing demands for recognition, redress, and guarantees of non-repetition. Their work, she said, is key to amplifying victims’ voices and shaping concrete reparative frameworks.

This year’s African NGO Forum took place over three days in Banjul, The Gambia, offering a platform for civil society, academics, and policymakers to collaborate on strategies for advancing reparations at all levels. Discussions focused on topics such as modern-day slavery, gender-based approaches to reparations, international advocacy, and the institutionalization of human rights-based reparative mechanisms.