CILPA has recently obtained funding from the Open Society Foundation to convene a research project aimed at scientifically assessing the legal basis for reparations under international law for historical injustice suffered by people of African descent. The key added value of the project will be a conscious effort to influence the current global narrative about reparations which is predominantly rooted in claims about international morality rather than international law. It is proposed that the project take place in various stages, with different collaborators at each stage, over 2 years, to build a solid foundation for a longer-term project in this area. The research project, which will seek to offer a new international law-based framework for reparations for historic wrongs, will rely on a well- tested three-part approach that would be executed in three distinct phases.
It would open with independent research and be followed by workshops at which the initial research results will be tested in a rigorous peer review driven process, and thereafter, the finalization of the research and the dissemination of the research results.
As to the scope of historical injustices to be explored in this project, it will focus on historic injustices suffered by people of African descent as a result of slavery, the slave trade, and colonialism, while considering interrelated issues of gender, environmental damage, and systemic economic disparity. The added value centers on clarifying, to the extent possible, the state of the law applicable at the time. This project will run from October 2023 to October 2025.
