KINGSTON, Jamaica- A reparatory justice group, The Repair Campaign, has thrown its support behind Prime Minister Andrew Holness following his announcement of a petition to King Charles, calling for legal clarity on Britain’s responsibility for slavery and colonial-era injustices.

Founder of the group, Dennis O’Brien, welcomed the move describing it as a bold step toward securing long-overdue reparations for Caribbean nations. The petition, unveiled during the Caricom Heads of Government meeting, has garnered widespread backing across member states.

“The Repair Campaign welcomes this landmark petition from Jamaica and I congratulate Prime Minister Holness on his bold action to bring meaningful positive change to the region,” he said.

READ: Caricom throws support behind Jamaica’s reparation push

Holness is urging King Charles to seek legal guidance from the United Kingdom’s (UK) Judicial Committee of the Privy Council — the final appellate court for many Commonwealth nations and UK territories — on three pivotal questions: whether the transatlantic slave trade was lawful, whether it constituted a crime against humanity, and whether Britain is obligated to provide reparative justice to Caribbean countries for centuries of chattel slavery and its effects.

This development follows The Repair Campaign’s recent high-level delegation to the European and UK Parliaments. That delegation, composed of leading activists and researchers from across the Caribbean, including Barbados, Haiti, Suriname, and St Lucia, gained cross-party support from lawmakers in the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Spain, Denmark, and France.

“The Caribbean’s ongoing challenges stem directly from over 300 years of European colonialism and the genocidal transatlantic slave trade during which more than 4.7 million people were forcibly shipped to the region and subjected to the most unimaginably brutality. Recognition of this injustice is long overdue,” explained O’Brien.

He added that the petition, alongside expanding support in Europe, marks a critical moment in the growing global movement for reparatory justice.