Reparations and Restitution Justice for Colonial Crimes

Charles A Taku

doi:10.25159/2522-3062/16178

Authors

Charles A Taku International Criminal Court

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25159/2522-3062/16178

Keywords:

Africa, civilisation, colonial, convention, cultural, Geneva, German, heritage

Abstract

This paper demonstrates that communities and victims of colonial crimes who suffered gross violations of international human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law are entitled to reparations and the restitution of their stolen or looted African cultural heritage. Requests made by victims and succeeding generations for reparations and restitution have not been seared into the conscience of humanity. Atrocity crimes against Africans were committed under the cloth of legality. The international legal order which enabled the atrocity crimes did not consider Africans as subjects of international law. Colonial and supposed independent African neo-colonial states were established without effective political, economic and legal frameworks for reparations and restitution justice. This paper establishes a factual, historical and legal basis for reparations for historical crimes against Africans and the restitution of stolen African cultural heritage.

References

Achebe C, An Image of Africa (first published in 1983, Penguin 2010).

Azikiwe N, ‘(1949) Nnamdi Azikiwe Speaks at a Rally for Nigerian Independence at Trafalgar Square, London’ (BlackPast, 2 September 2009) <https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/1949-nnamdi-azikiwe-speaks-rally-nigerian-independence-trafalgar-square-london/> accessed 29 May 2024.

Azikiwe N, ‘(1949) Nnamdi Azikiwe Speaks Before the British Peace Conference in London’ (BlackPast, 2 September 2009) <https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/1949-nnamdi-azikiwe-speaks-british-peace-conference-london/> accessed 29 May 2024.

Bosza I, ‘Bangwa Collection from Colonial Context Revisited: Museum Objects as “The Conscience of Black Civilization”’ (Retour, 8 September 2021) <https://retour.hypotheses.org/1641> accessed 29 May 2024.

Brain R, The Bangwa of West Cameroon: A Brief Account of Their History and Culture (University College London 1967).

Brownlie I, Basic Documents in International Law (4 edn, Oxford University Press 1995).

Campfens E and Bozsa I, ‘Provenance Research and Claims to Bangwa Collections: A Matter of Morality or Justice?’ (Verfassungsblog 2022) <https://verfassungsblog.de/provenance-research-and-claims-to-bangwa-collections/> accessed 29 May 2024.

Campfens E, Cross-Border Claims to Cultural Objects: Property or Heritage? (Eleven 2021).

Campfens E, ‘The Bangwa Queen: Artifact or Heritage?’ (2019) 26(1) International Journal of Cultural Property. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0940739119000043

Campfens E, ‘Whose Cultural Objects? Introducing Heritage Title for Cross-Border Cultural Property Claims’ (2020) 67(2) Netherlands International Law Review. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40802-020-00174-3

Cartey W and Kilson M (eds), The African Reader: Independent Africa (1 ed, Random House 1970).

Chilver EM, ‘The Bangwa and The Germans: A Tailpiece’ (1967) 4(1) Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria.

Dunstan E, ‘A Bangwa Account of Early Encounters with the German Colonial Administration’ (1965) 3(2) Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria.

Fyle MC, Introduction to The History of African Civilization (1 ed, University Press of America 1999).

Holland O, ‘US Returns Over 17,000 Looted Artifacts to Iraq’ (CNN, 5 August 2021) <https://www.cnn.com/style/article/iraq-us-artifacts-repatriation/index.html> accessed 29 May 2024.

Holy Bible: King James Version (1611 edn, Hendrickson Publishers 2005).

Lüdert J, Heise J and Ketzmerick M (eds), The United Nations Trusteeship System: Legacies, Continuities and Change (1 edn, Routledge 2023). DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003185260-1

Meredith M, The Fortunes of Africa: A 5000-Year History of Wealth, Greed, and Endeavor (Public Affairs 2014).

Moore M, ‘Justice and Colonialism’ (2016) 11(8) Philosophy Compass. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12337

Osong EM, Unraveled: A Personal Journey into Conflict, War, and Diplomacy (Emma M Osong 2021).

Reader J, Africa: A Biography of the Continent (Vintage 1999).

Savoy B and Meyer A (eds), Atlas of Absence: Cameroon’s Cultural Heritage in Germany (Reimer 2023).

Schwab P, Africa: A Continent Self-Destructs (1 edn, Palgrave Macmillan 2001).

Stahn C, Confronting Colonial Objects: Histories, Legalities, and Access to Culture (Oxford University Press 2023). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192868121.001.0001

Taku C, Africa: Hopes and Aspirations Crucified (Tencam Press 1999).

Taku C, ‘The Legal and Moral Conscience of Justice in European Collections of Colonial Provenance: The Bangwa Quest for Restitution and Reparations’ in Andratschke Claudia (ed), Provenance Research on Collections from Colonial Contexts: Principles, Approaches, Challenges (Arthistoricum 2023).

Cases

Engo v Cameroon Comm no [2005] 1397.

Factory at Chorzów (Germany v Poland) [1928] 13 (PCIJ).

Mukong v Cameroon [1991] Comm no 458/1991 (UNHRC).

Prosecutor v Thomas Lubanga Dyilo’ [2012] Judgment on the Appeals Against the “Decision Establishing the Principles and Procedures to be Applied to Reparations” (7 August 2012) with Amended Order for Reparations (Annex A) and Public Annexes 1 and 2’ Doc no ICC-01/04-01/06 AA2A3 (ICC, 3 March 2015).

Legislation

Germany

Framework Principles for Dealing with Collections from Colonial Contexts Agreed by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the Federal Foreign Office Minister of State for International Cultural Policy, the Cultural Affairs Ministers of the Länder and the Municipal Umbrella Organisations (13 March 2019) <https://www.cp3c.org/relevant_documents/cp3c_Framework_Principles_for_dealing_with_collections_from_colonial_contexts_20210812.pdf> accessed 29 May 2024.

International Legal Instruments and Conventions

Charter of the United Nations (1945).

General Act of the Conference of Berlin (1885).

Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (1954).

Treaty of Versailles (1919).

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514 ‘Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples’ (1960).

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2106 (XX)’ International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination’ (1969).

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 3187 ‘Restitution of Works of Art to Countries Victims of Appropriation’ (1973).

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 55/146 ‘Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism’ (2001).

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 60/147 ‘Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law’ (2005).

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 65/119 ‘Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism’ (2011).

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 76/16 ‘Return or Restitution of Cultural Property to the Countries of Origin’ (2021).

United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights Resolution 2002/5 ‘Recognition of Responsibility and Reparation for Massive and Flagrant Violations of Human Rights Which Constitute Crimes Against Humanity and Which Took Place During the Period of Slavery, Colonialism and Wars of Conquest’ (2002).