African Futures Lab Participates in Inaugural AJJF Reparatory Justice Surgery

[3 - 4 July 2025, Johannesburg, South Africa]

African Futures Lab is proud to be part of the inaugural Africa Judges and Jurists Forum (AJJF) Reparatory Justice Surgery (external link) - a legal and advocacy laboratory designed to confront the enduring legacies of colonial violence, enslavement, apartheid, and ongoing cultural erasure across Southern Africa.

This workshop brings together legal experts, civil society actors, academics, and critically affected communities to co-diagnose historical harms and co-create innovative, legally grounded strategies for reparations. From systemic exclusions to cultural dispossession, the need for deliberate and sustained reparative action has never been more urgent.

As part of this collective effort, African Futures Lab joins a growing coalition committed to strengthening the reparatory justice ecosystem. Our engagement emphasizes the importance of cross-sectoral collaboration - aligning legal strategies with grassroots advocacy and community-led demands for justice. 

Our Policy and Advocacy Officer, Geneviève Kaninda (external link), will share her expertise drawn from the Belgium-Congo Mixed-Race Children Case (external link) - a historic legal action addressing colonial crimes against humanity, particularly the abduction and segregation of mixed-race children in Central Africa. The case sets important precedents for reparations advocacy across the continent.   

The two-day workshop will function as a reparations incubator, focused on: 

• Spotlighting harms that require legal and political redress. 

• Identifying viable claims for litigation at domestic, regional, and international levels. 

• Building capacity among lawyers, activists, and community leaders to frame reparations within appropriate legal frameworks. 

• Centering affected communities in the pursuit of reparative justice-not as subjects of charity, but as agents of change. 

• Connecting legal strategies with broader policy and advocacy mechanisms, including Comittee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, and regional courts. 

• Namibia - Herero and Nama Genocide: Insights from ongoing efforts to secure reparations from Germany for the 1904-1908 genocide. 

• Tanzania, Lesotho, Zimbabwe - Cultural Restitution: Legal and diplomatic strategies for reclaiming looted human remains and cultural artifacts. 

• South Africa - Post-Apartheid Reparations: Engaging with group members on strategies employed to advocate for reparations for South Africa (SA) post-apartheid era abuses especially in light of the SA TRC process

Partners in this convening include:

• Africa Reparations Hub, University of the Free State (SA)
• African Centre for Criminal and Transitional Justice, University of the Western Cape (SA)
• Amnesty International, Southern Africa
• Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria (SA)
• Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR)
• Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR)
• South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC)
• Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC)
• United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights – Regional Office for Southern Africa (OHCHR, ROSA)

• Identification of 1–2 strategic cases for litigation or international campaigns.
• Enhanced legal and advocacy capacity among community representatives.
• Clear advocacy roadmaps for regional and international engagement.

We look forward to contributing to this timely workshop and to amplify legally-grounded, community-rooted efforts that make the case for global reparatory justice.

For more informaiton on the Reparatory Justice Surgery, click here (external link).