The Re­con­sti­tut­ed Na­tion­al Com­mit­tee on Repa­ra­tions said it will not stop un­til jus­tice is served for crimes com­mit­ted against those en­slaved.

Speak­ing at a news con­fer­ence yes­ter­day at NA­PA, Port-of-Spain, the com­mit­tee an­nounced that it had de­vised an ac­tion plan which in­cludes every­thing from re­ceiv­ing a for­mal apol­o­gy, debt can­cel­la­tion, as well as the elim­i­na­tion of pub­lic mon­u­ments and sig­nage that cel­e­brate those who, it said, ben­e­fit­ed from colo­nial crimes.

In Sep­tem­ber 2023, the Cab­i­net ap­point­ed the com­mit­tee to pur­sue repa­ra­tions for Na­tive geno­cide and African en­slave­ment from all Eu­ro­pean colonis­ers of the re­gion.

Yes­ter­day, the com­mit­tee kick-start­ed its first an­nu­al Na­tion­al Repa­ra­tions Week and its chair­man Dr Claudius Fer­gus stressed the im­por­tance of repa­ra­tions.

Fer­gus said, “Repa­ra­tions for geno­cide and en­slave­ment of na­tive peo­ples is the nat­ur­al cul­mi­na­tion of the strug­gle against colo­nial­ism and neo-colo­nial­ism... We will not al­low those who op­pressed us to de­ter us or to de­cide what is jus­tice for the crimes that they have com­mit­ted against us.”

For­eign and Cari­com Af­fairs Min­is­ter Dr Amery Browne said repa­ra­tions are about jus­tice as he called for not just Trinidad and To­ba­go but Cari­com to unite on the is­sue of repara­to­ry jus­tice.

Browne said, “Repa­ra­tions is not just about the past but it’s al­so about the fu­ture. It is about jus­tice... It is im­per­a­tive that Trinidad and To­ba­go and our Cari­com part­ners lever­age all avail­able chan­nels and speak with one voice on the is­sue of repara­to­ry jus­tice in­clud­ing the de­ploy­ment of our over­seas mis­sions to be ac­tive­ly en­gaged in play­ing a role in ed­u­cat­ing our di­as­po­ra.”

The Na­tion­al Repa­ra­tions Week will in­clude a se­ries of events aimed at rais­ing aware­ness and ed­u­cat­ing the pub­lic with a fo­cus on ed­u­cat­ing youth about repa­ra­tions in both Trinidad and To­ba­go.