“In the current global climate, the pursuit of reparatory justice becomes not only a historical imperative but a political necessity essential for defending the dignity, agency, and futures of African people,” stated Professor Tim Murithi, Head of Peacebuilding Interventions at the IJR, in his remarks at the Reparatory Justice Surgery in Johannesburg on 3 July. His statement was read on his behalf by Nyasha Mpani, Project Leader for the Data for Governance Alliance at the IJR, representing collaborating partners at the Africa Judges and Jurists Forum (AJJF) Reparatory Justice Surgery.

Titled “Advancing Strategies for Reparatory Justice in Africa: Reflections from Southern Africa”, the justice surgery aimed to catalyse concrete legal strategies to address historical injustices that continue to affect Africans and people of African descent.

“I find the framing of this gathering as a ‘Reparatory Justice Surgery’ both intriguing and profoundly appropriate. A surgery is a place of diagnosis and intervention where wounds are not just acknowledged but actively treated. It reminds us that this work is not symbolic. It is clinical. It is hands-on. It demands urgency, care, and collaboration,” Professor Murithi emphasised, noting that this convening comes at a critical time, as rising authoritarianism, shrinking civic space, and the erosion of human rights protections threaten African communities both at home and abroad.

The gathering took place as the African Union marks 2025 as the “Year of Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations”, highlighting the continent’s renewed focus on confronting the enduring legacies of trans-Atlantic slavery, colonialism, apartheid, and economic exploitation.

Despite growing advocacy, reparations efforts on the continent have remained largely fragmented, underfunded, and symbolic, with few tangible legal victories at domestic, regional, or international levels. The Reparatory Justice Surgery sought to change this by assembling around 30 legal experts, affected community leaders, and strategic litigators from across Southern Africa to identify and develop high-impact legal cases that could advance reparations through African and international human rights mechanisms.

The convening centred on historically affected communities, ensuring they were not merely subjects of legal debate but active participants in crafting strategies for redress. Key objectives included spotlighting various harms requiring reparations, identifying promising claims for litigation, and enhancing the capacity of lawyers, activists, and communities to advance reparations within relevant legal frameworks.

The initiative drew inspiration from global precedents such as Germany’s reparations to Holocaust survivors and landmark decisions by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on indigenous restitution. It also aligned with recent African milestones, including the 2023 Accra Proclamation on Reparations, which underscored the need for enforceable mechanisms beyond symbolic apologies.

Participants analysed case studies including the Herero and Nama genocide reparations case against Germany; efforts by Tanzanian, Lesotho, and Zimbabwean communities to reclaim human remains and looted cultural artefacts; and South Africa’s post-apartheid reparations movement.

Additionally, the Surgery examined the Belgium-Congo Mixed-Race Children Case, where legal action was successfully taken against Belgium for crimes against humanity related to the forced abduction and segregation of mixed-race children during colonial rule in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda.

The Reparatory Justice Surgery reaffirmed that achieving meaningful reparations in Africa requires sustained legal, political, and community-driven efforts. By bringing together experts and affected communities, the initiative laid a foundation for collaborative strategies to address historical injustices and to secure justice, dignity, and lasting healing for African people and their descendants.