International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
In the Islands of the Caribbean on August 23, 1791, a major incident occurred that changed the course of a large number of people’s lives, which prompted the United Nations to move and take measures that would limit what was happening. What was that incident?
International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
The slave trade is considered one of the most heinous acts practiced against human beings because one of the things that no human being should ask for or seek is Freedom. It is created by humans and has existed since its inception. It is unfair and unjust to deprive anyone of freedom. Enslavement, the least that can be said about it, is a crime. Rather, it is more than that, to transform a person of blood and soul, who resembles you in everything except the criminal and barbarous thinking way, which gives you the permission to violate the freedom and lives of others and turn them into material things that you can own and sell them under the name of the Slave Trade. From all that has been presented and to be able to get acquainted with the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, we must first know who the slave is.
Who is the slave?
A slave is every person who has been deprived of their liberty, and over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised, who is of servile status, and to whom all forms of exploitation and servitude are applied. [1]
Those slaveholders were not satisfied with enslaving individuals only, but also reached a stage where they practiced trade under the name of the slave trade.
What is the slave trade?
The term slave trade means and includes all acts involved in the capture, acquisition, or disposal of a person with the intent to reduce him to slavery; all acts involved in the acquisition of a slave with a view to selling or exchanging him; all acts of disposal by sale or exchange of a person acquired with a view to being sold or exchanged; and, in general, every act of trade or transport in slaves by whatever means of conveyance.[1]
This was common until recently when the Haitian revolution took place, which drew the attention and interest of societies to this phenomenon and mobilized efforts to combat it.
What happened in Haiti?
Haiti is one of the Caribbean islands. It was discovered by explorer Christopher Columbus in 1492, and because it was a region rich in natural resources and gold, the ambitions were directed to it. It was occupied by the Spaniards who turned it into a Spanish colony and then the French occupied it in 1696. In an atmosphere of oppression and exploitation, the French brought a large number of Africans and black people as slaves to work in Haiti, so that the number of slaves and serfs far exceeded the population, and in light of this treatment and enslavement, a revolution had to take place against the French by the Africans and headed by Toussaint Levierre in 1791. The island gained its independence in 1804, and this uprising is recorded as the first revolution In the modern history of black slaves. [2]
Reason for the adoption of the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition
This day is commemorated in the context of the events on the night of August 23, 1791 (the start of the revolution), which played a crucial role in the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. [3]
The Executive Board of UNESCO adopted Resolution 29 C/40 during its twenty-ninth session, regarding the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition, at the invitation of the Director-General of UNESCO on 29 July 1998. [3]
Also read: World Humanitarian Day.
Importance of the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition
The commemoration of this day every year plays an important role in inscribing and consolidating the tragedy of the slave trade in the memory of all peoples. It is also hoped that this day should offer an opportunity for collective consideration of the historic causes, the methods, and the consequences of this tragedy, and for an analysis of the interactions to which it has given rise between Africa, Europe, and the Americas, and the Caribbean. [4]
“All over the world, people of African descent continue to suffer daily from the dire consequences of this ominous legacy” – Director-General, Audrey Azoulay | UNESCO [4]
Society’s position on the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition
This day is receiving attention from various countries in the world, and it was celebrated for the first time in a group of countries, foremost of which is Haiti and Goure Island in Senegal, and several cultural events and seminars were organized in this regard, and the Mulhouse Textile Museum in France participated in 2001 in the form of a workshop for fabrics called “Indiennes de Traite” (a type of calico) which served as currency for the exchange of slaves in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. [3]
Position of the Uplifting Syrian Women Initiative
Uplifting Syrian Women initiative, in accordance with its ultimate goal of achieving peace, strongly condemns all those heinous practices that were taking place against humanity, and through its participation in the commemoration of the slave trade and its abolition, calls on the international community to continue working for the freedom of all individuals who are still suffering from this tragedy till this day and to oppose everyone who violates the freedom of the other and practices slave trade, hiding behind any term or action.
♀️ Uplifting Syrian Women Initiative aims at sustainable peace building in Syria through targeting women and providing them with free online courses, workshops, discussion sessions and trainings, with a view to achieving the goals of Gender Equality, Quality Education and Decent Work and Economic Growth, which all fall into the interest of society as a whole and serve the purpose of rebuilding it.
References:
[1] OHCHR
[2] Mawdoo3
[3] UNESCO
[4] UN
