Olivia Grange
‘We followed the process’: Grange addresses reparations filing ‘misinformation’ in UK
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange, is addressing what she describes as misinformation surrounding the filing of a reparations petition to Head of State King Charles.
Speaking at a meeting with members of the Jamaica Diaspora at the National Windrush Museum in the United Kingdom (UK) on Wednesday, Grange addressed concerns that she had not given it directly to the King.
Emphasising that the September 7 petition was smoothly and successfully filed, Grange noted that Jamaica’s Governor General had been in contact with the Palace regarding the petition and received guidance on how to file it.
“We have followed the process. The process does not involve presenting the document physically to His Majesty,” she said. “However, we sought to have a courtesy call on His Majesty as we filed the petition through the requisite channels, but the Palace replied that the King would be away at Balmoral.”
“Contrary to what you might have read in some publications, or seen online, our petition does not include a monetary claim,” she added. “However, we believe there must be, there has to be, some appropriate remedy or remedies for the atrocity of chattel enslavement which our ancestors endured. It is not enough to regret the suffering that slavery inflicted on our ancestors and say let’s build a new future.”
Grange shared that the petition asks the King to refer certain points to the Privy Council for their determination, including:
●A determination as to whether Transatlantic Chattel Slavery, as practised in Jamaica, was in fact ever lawful under English law, or whether it was offensive to the fundamental principles of the common law and indeed to certain express statutory provisions of the Westminster Parliament;
● A further determination* as to whether the said forced transportation and chattel enslavement was a breach of relevant international obligations, including those arising out of general principles of law, the peremptory prohibitions of slavery, torture, racial discrimination and crimes against humanity and obligations derived from other sources of international law; and
● Whether there is a legal obligation on the part of the United Kingdom to provide a reparatory remedy to the people of Jamaica, as descendants of those subject to these dehumanising practices, and as a community of persons on whom the practices have had indelible and continuing negative effect.
