Grange: Jamaica’s reparations petition does not include monetary claim

Jamaica’s Culture Minister Olivia Grange has sought to clear up what she described as misinformation surrounding the country’s historic reparations petition to King Charles III, confirming that the document was formally filed through the required channels on Monday.

Grange addressed the issue on Wednesday during a meeting with members of the Jamaican diaspora at the National Windrush Museum in the United Kingdom, two days after the petition was submitted.

“I report to you today that our petition was smoothly and successfully filed on Monday,” Grange said.

The petition asks the King to refer three key legal questions surrounding slavery and reparations to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council for determination.

Among them is whether transatlantic chattel slavery as practised in Jamaica was ever lawful under English law or whether it violated fundamental principles of common law and legislation passed by the Westminster Parliament.

The petition also seeks a determination on whether the forced transportation and enslavement of Africans breached international legal obligations, including prohibitions against slavery, torture, racial discrimination and crimes against humanity.

A third question asks whether the United Kingdom has a legal obligation to provide a reparatory remedy to Jamaicans as descendants of enslaved people and as a society that continues to experience the effects of slavery.

Grange stressed that the petition was filed with the King despite criticism that she did not personally hand the document to the monarch.

“The Government, acting through the Governor General, has been in contact with the Palace on the filing of the petition,” she said. “The Palace has given us guidance on how to file the petition. We have followed the process.”

She said the prescribed process did not require the petition to be physically presented to King Charles.

According to Grange, the Jamaican delegation had sought a courtesy call with the monarch to coincide with the filing, but Buckingham Palace advised that the King would be at Balmoral.

The government also worked with members of the Jamaican diaspora, including the Windrush generation and their descendants, to organise activities in the United Kingdom aimed at raising awareness of Jamaica’s reparatory justice campaign.

Grange said the petition was deliberately filed around the commemoration of the 245th anniversary of the Zong massacre. A major commemorative event was held Sunday at New Park Road Baptist Church in London.

The 1781 massacre involved the killing of more than 130 enslaved Africans who were thrown overboard from the British slave ship Zong during its voyage to Jamaica.

Grange said the timing was intended to underscore the historical atrocities at the centre of Jamaica’s push for reparatory justice and their continuing impact on descendants of enslaved Africans.

She also clarified that, contrary to some reports and online commentary, Jamaica’s petition does not specify a monetary claim.

However, she maintained that there must be an appropriate remedy for the effects of chattel slavery.

“It is not enough to regret the suffering that slavery inflicted on our ancestors and say let’s build a new future,” Grange said.

“We have been taught that when you do something wrong, you must take responsibility for it, apologise and try to set things right. That is really the essence of reparatory justice.”

The petition represents a significant step in Jamaica’s longstanding campaign for reparations from Britain over slavery and colonialism, with the government seeking legal clarification on whether the UK could ultimately bear an obligation to provide redress.

Grange called on Jamaicans at home and across the diaspora to support the effort.

“If we take this on together, there can be no stopping us,” she said.