African Union leaders recognized colonization as a "crime against humanity" on Sunday. This occurred at the close of the organization's 39th summit of heads of state in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
"The conference recognizes colonization as a crime against humanity. This is very important," stressed Mahmoud Ali Youssouf of Djibouti, Chairperson of the African Union Commission.
This resolution is the culmination of initiatives undertaken on the continent in this direction. Among them, the international conference on the crimes of colonialism in Africa, organized in Algiers on November 30 and December 1, 2025.
The Ghanaian president announced in the aftermath that his country would submit a resolution next March to the United Nations General Assembly in order to obtain the designation of the African slave trade as "the most serious crime against humanity".
