Archbishop Desmond Tutu Fellows have called on the United Nations Security Council, the African Union and their heads of state, business community, non governmental, Africans themselves and the judicial system to collaborate to end slavery in our society.
The fellows are asking the UN organisation and its related organs to urgently declare the practice of Slavery – particularly in Libya- a threat against humanity and to work closely with civil society and member states to arrest the slave trade and create an effective punitive framework to combat against the slave trade globally.
The call was made after their meeting recently where they reviewed the activities of the new slave traders around the globe and the need to urgently stop an activity that caused the world a lot of damage in the past.
The Fellows said: “We call upon the Africa Union to demonstrate continental leadership in aggregating national voices on ensuring slavery remains a historical footnote.
“We call upon all African heads of State to take action to hold each other accountable, and to engage with other states beyond the continent who can make a contribution toward eradicating the Slave trade, and to stanch the capital flows and lack of consequence which makes this vile economy thrive.
“We call upon businesses invested in countries such as Libya- which have failed to abide by the unwritten laws of humanity- to divest and support the removal of the Great Stain.
“We call upon the NGO community invested in the fight against human trafficking, forced labour, involuntary migration, social justice and the betterment of the planet to support the removal of the Great Stain.
“We call upon all Africans, in particular the nations of the African North, to support the removal of the Great Stain in all its forms.
“We call upon the instruments of justice- national and international- to charge beneficiaries of the slave trade as Enemies of humanity.”
The Fellows have also proposed other ways to go about ending the scourge.
“As Archbishop Tutu Fellows and as Africans, we request the following immediate course of action:
- All African countries to recall their ambassadors and diplomatic representatives from Libya, as some have already done.
- Appropriate, responsible and action-oriented responses from the countries of origin of our enslaved African brothers and sisters in Libya, with a clear request for support from the international community where needed.
- Firm action against Libya from the African Union, of which the country is a member, such as suspension from the multilateral organization once investigations have been concluded.
- Other African countries to follow Rwanda’s lead and accept African brothers and sisters who are caught in the slave trade in Libya, and pan-African support for these African host countries.
“As a network of more than 300 emerging young African leaders, we, the Archbishop Tutu Fellows, are willing and able to assist where such assistance is needed.
“We are deeply aware that it is pertinent upon the conscience and humanity of every member of the international community to act against the evils to which our fellow human beings are subject to in Libya. The urgency of the situation is such that we need to act now.
“Our ancestors fought slavery over hundreds of years and we cannot bear witness to its evils today and do nothing.”