USVI reparations leader says Danes altered UN Resolution

KNN-ST JOHN, USVI
by Susan Mann
Caribbean Net News St Thomas-St John Correspondent

ST JOHN, USVI: The St Croix, US Virgin Islands-based African Caribbean Reparations and Resettlement Alliance president, Shelley Moorhead, has accused the UN Danish Mission of "backpedaling at the United Nations." In a letter dated October 20, written to Danish Consul General Soren Blak, Moorhead explained that a UN Resolution passed in June of 2006, has been modified by the Danish Mission, and now excludes a significant reference to reparations activities between the USVI and Denmark, as well as statements of endorsements by the United Nations. The UN Resolution is entitled "Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples." The original document, dated June 9, 2006, included the following statement; "Noting the ongoing cooperation between the territorial Government and Denmark on the reparation of artefacts and archives, and the agreement between the Danish Human Rights Institute and the African Caribbean Reparations and Resettlement Alliance, a non-governmental organization based in the Territory, to examine the question of reparations between the people of Denmark and the people of the United States Virgin Islands with respect to the institution of slavery..."

Moorhead has announced that last week, before the document was to reach the General Assembly for vote, "the Danish Mission used its 'diplomatic muscle' to procure an amendment to the resolution," editing the latter paragraph and also "removing the UN recognition, endorsement, and acknowledgment of the USVI/Denmark shared past with respect to the institution of slavery." A representative from the office of USVI Delegate to Congress, Donna M. Christensen, said Christensen could not comment on the matter because she had not reviewed the current UN document. Moorhead issued the following statement to Caribbean Net News: "The abrupt withdrawal at the United Nations level arouses great concern that Denmark might be continuing along its historically traveled path to denying its role and responsibility in the tragic slave history of its former colony." The ACRRA President told the Consul General, " If the Danish Foreign Ministry can do nothing positive to influence the agreement between the Danes and Virgin Islanders with respect to our shared history and the restoration of our collective humanity, then perhaps it may be advisable that they do nothing at all until they are prepared to accept the reality of Denmark's history and its impact on her former colony."

There are currently several joint endeavors underway between the USVI and Denmark, all of which were spearheaded by ACRRA. In addition, during the month of July, a USVI delegation traveled by official invitation to Ghana where they participated in a reparations-related healing ceremony. Caribbean Net News will report any further developments concerning the final content of the United Nations document following a General Assembly vote.