By Layli Foroudi
PARIS, May 28 (Reuters) – French lawmakers voted on Thursday to formally repeal slavery-era laws that defined the legal status of enslaved people as “movable property” and justified abuse and corporal punishment, though they stopped short of including demands for reparations.
The largely symbolic step comes amid debate in France about reparations for slavery, and about the persistence of racism and inequalities linked to colonialism in French society.
If adopted, the bill would also require the government to report to parliament on the consequences of colonial law and the lasting effects of slavery for French overseas territories, the legacy of slavery on racism and discrimination in French society and how the history of slavery is taught in schools.
The legislation to be repealed, known as the “Code noir” in French, refers to royal edicts promulgated between 1685 and 1724. Though slavery was abolished by France in 1848, the Code noir was never formally abrogated.
“This proposal does not claim to erase history, nor to single-handedly heal the wounds of history,” said Max Mathiasin, a centrist member of parliament from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, presenting the law.
“It aims to take a new step, to make a powerful act of remembrance, justice and recognition, by formally repealing the Code noir and all the texts that stem from it.”
The 254 parliamentarians present voted unanimously for the proposal, which still needs to be debated by the upper house of parliament.
PUSH FOR REPARATIONS
French President Emmanuel Macron lent his support to the motion this month, saying that the old legislation should not have survived until the present day.
Macron also raised the subject of reparations, without making concrete proposals.
Some lawmakers had argued that the bill repealing the Code noir should have included demands for reparations, but Mathiasin said he did not want to “weigh down” the proposal with them.
“In my opinion, we must fight on the issue of reparations, which is the essential question,” said Marcellin Nadeau, a left-wing member of parliament from the French Caribbean island of Martinique, who did not vote.
France was the third-largest actor in the transatlantic trade of enslaved people among European nations, after England and Portugal. It initiated 13% of expeditions as part of the trade from the 16th to the 19th century, according to the Memorial for the Abolition of Slavery at Nantes Museum.
Calls for reparations – ranging from official apologies to financial compensation – have gained momentum internationally, though opponents argue states and institutions should not be held responsible for historical crimes.
In March, France abstained at the United Nations from an Africa-led resolution declaring slavery the “gravest crime against humanity” and calling for reparations.
(Reporting by Layli Foroudi; Editing by Aidan Lewis)
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