[WCAR] International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition

***Learn more about the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave
Trade and its Abolition - 23 August 2006:
http://www.hrea.org/feature-events/abolition-slavetrade-day.php


Message from Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, on the
occasion of the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade
and its Abolition, 23 August 2006

22 Aug 2006 -- The International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave
Trade and its Abolition is an important occasion to remind the
international community of the particularity of this tragedy, of its
persisting consequences for modern societies, and of the role played by
both enslaved Africans and abolitionists in bringing to an end this crime
against humanity.

The decision of UNESCO's General Conference in 1997 to proclaim 23 August
"International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its
Abolition" was made in response to the great interest and expectations
raised by the launching of the UNESCO Slave Route Project in 1994. Aware
that ignoring or concealing major historical events such as the slave
trade and its abolition is in itself an obstacle to mutual understanding,
international reconciliation and, consequently, peace, UNESCO's Member
States decided that an international day of commemoration was needed in
order to increase awareness and understanding of this tragedy. As a symbol
of the negation of the most basic human rights, the slave trade and
slavery must be brought before the conscience of humanity. On account of
the exploitation and extreme violence that characterized the slave trade,
the monstrous arguments that sought to justify it and the paradoxical
interactions to which it gave rise, this tragedy remains at the very
centre of the burning issues of today's world. Our relationship to this
past forms part of the current debates on how to deal with painful
memories, construct national identities and develop new forms of
citizenship.

The International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its
Abolition provides us with an occasion for common reflection, not only on
the historical causes, the implications and the modes of operation of this
tragedy, but also on the extraordinary intercultural dialogue among
peoples it generated in Europe, the Americas, the Caribbean and the Indian
Ocean — and indeed the whole world.

Thanks to the valuable advice and intellectual support of our partners,
and in particular of the new International Scientific Committee of the
Slave Route Project, UNESCO has been able to assist many countries in
re-opening these tragic pages of their history and accomplishing the work
of remembrance. We have also been able to help other States recognize the
considerable contributions made by enslaved Africans to their host
societies and to celebrate the exceptional cultural diversity that
resulted from such contact. Today, several countries around the world such
as France, Canada, Mauritius and a number of countries in the Caribbean
have selected a commemorative date to revisit their history, and to heal
the wounds of the past in order to build a better future.

Recognition of our ethical obligation to remember the victims of past
injustice was strongly enhanced by the activities that took place during
the 2004 International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery
and its Abolition. The United Kingdom's commemoration next year of the
Bicentenary of the Abolition of the Slave trade by the British Parliament
will likewise reaffirm the vital need to educate new and future
generations in a spirit of mutual understanding, respect and dialogue,
promoting awareness and enjoyment of cultural diversity and through this
helping to build the foundations of lasting peace.




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