Lula Backs Mahama’s UN Resolution: Slave Trade as Crime Against Humanity

March 22, 2026 Lucas Fernandez – World Editor World

Bogotá, Colombia – Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has voiced his full support for a United Nations resolution spearheaded by Ghana’s President John Mahama to formally recognize the transatlantic slave trade as a crime against humanity, according to an announcement made today.

The pledge of support, revealed by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, came during the ongoing CELAC-AFRICA Summit in Colombia, where President Lula and President Mahama engaged in discussions. Ablakwa noted the significance of Brazil’s backing, given the nation’s substantial population of African descent – the largest outside of the African continent.

The UN resolution, which Ghana intends to formally present to the General Assembly on March 25, 2026, seeks to establish a definitive international condemnation of the transatlantic slave trade. President Mahama has previously stated the initiative is “firmly grounded in international law” and builds upon the endorsement received from 40 member states of the African Union.

According to data presented earlier this year, the transatlantic slave trade forcibly transported an estimated 15 million people over a period of four centuries, with over 10.7 million surviving the journey to the Americas. Between 1.5 and 2 million perished during the notorious Middle Passage. Mahama has emphasized the demand to acknowledge the immense suffering caused by the trade, stating that individuals “jumped out of ships, who preferred to die” rather than endure the conditions of enslavement.

The move by Ghana to bring the issue before the UN follows earlier backing from the African Union, as reported in February 2026. Kojo Asante from the Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has affirmed the historical and legal validity of framing the transatlantic slave trade as a crime.

Ablakwa expressed confidence in the resolution’s success, stating, “Our reparatory justice coalition is getting bigger and better – we are confident of victory at the UN on the 25th of March, 2026.”