African Union says Pay up for slavery

The African Union plans to relaunch attempts to gain reparations for the countless Africans who were abducted from the continent and sold into slavery over the centuries, the pan-continental body said.  In a statement released late on Friday from its headquarters in Addis Ababa, the African Union said its executive Commission would push the issue, and would also call on African parliaments to do so. "In the coming months the Commission will relaunch a committee on repairing the damage caused by slavery," said spokesperson Adam Thiam. He added that the AU was calling on African countries to take measures to outlaw slavery like those adopted by France in May 2001. The new French law classifies both slavery and the slave trade as a crime against humanity. Talks on the issue took place on the sidelines of celebrations in Ethiopia to mark what would have been the 60th birthday of the late Jamaican singer Bob Marley. [more]

• Compensate Africa for Slavery, Says Actor Glover [more]