UN Headquarters in New York, powerful voices from France’s overseas territories accused Paris of sustaining colonial control under new names, demanding sovereignty, reparations, and justice for people of African descent.
A forum for long-denied voices
The Fourth Session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent opened with a clear mission: to dismantle the legacies of colonialism and advance the rights of Afro-descendant communities still subject to foreign power.
This year’s gathering also marked the start of the Second International Decade for People of African Descent — a turning point, many said, to move beyond symbolic recognition toward legal and political accountability.
Among the most striking interventions were those from Guadeloupe, Réunion, French Guiana, and St. Martin, where activists described what they called France and the Netherlands' continued colonial domination.
“Without us” – A voice from Guadeloupe
José Martin Jean-Pierre, Secretary of the International Decolonization Front, delivered a searing address. He condemned France’s 1946 law converting its Caribbean and Indian Ocean colonies into overseas departments — passed, he argued, “without consulting the peoples concerned.”
José Martin Jean-Pierre – Secretary, International Decolonization Front (Guadeloupe):
“We must not accept the empty-chair policy of colonial powers—particularly that of France... It is intolerable for anyone to shape their domestic laws without the consultation of the peoples concerned — while claiming they know what is best for us, while planning to act for us, but without us.”
Heritage, pain, and the fight for independence
Florent Ali Méril of Guadeloupe’s People’s Union for Liberation placed the island’s independence struggle within the broader historical arc of African enslavement and identity.
Florent Ali Méril – Deputy Secretary-General, People’s Union for the Liberation of Guadeloupe:
“Guadeloupe is an archipelago rich in heritage… But behind its beauty lies suffering… The struggle for Guadeloupe’s national liberation cannot be separated from the recognition of the injustices suffered by people of African descent.”
Azerbaijan’s role: Linking struggles, demanding justice
Abbas Abbasov, Executive Director of the Baku Initiative Group, delivered a global perspective. Founded in Azerbaijan, the NGO now plays a leading role in supporting decolonisation movements and presented a petition calling for:
The petition draws on UN resolutions, African Union positions, and European legal precedents.
Abbas Abbasov – Executive Director of Baku Initiative Group:
“The damage caused by colonialism and slavery lives on… These are not privileges. They are universal human rights, enshrined in international law.”
“Injustice without end”
Groups like Ka-Ubuntu from Réunion and One St. Martin Association described their situations as “injustice without end.” They argued that modern legal and economic structures continue to suppress Afro-descendant populations.
Public education in Guadeloupe was criticised as a “colonial instrument,” accused of erasing the historical memory of Black youth and shaping them to serve external interests.
A global call for real sovereignty
As the Second International Decade for People of African Descent begins, the demand has shifted.
From the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean, the call is no longer for recognition alone. It is for reparations, return, and real sovereignty.
The forum's message was simple, but thunderous: the past cannot be undone, but the present must be confronted.
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