The French government has to pay Haiti reparations for the huge sum that the Caribbean state was forced to pay in the 19th century to gain its independence, chairman of the Presidential Council of the Transitional Period of Haiti, Edgar Leblanc, said at the high-level week of the 79th UN General Assembly in New York, Report informs.
Leblanc reminded that Haiti is the only country that paid for its independence, despite that it was won with fire and blood: "This debt was a form of punishment for the courage to free itself from the shackles of slavery and elevate the Haitian people to the dignity of a human being."
"Here, at this 79th session of the General Assembly, Haiti, through me, is not simply asking for reparations, but is raising the fundamental question of inherent justice. My approach is determined, structured and well-documented. The National Committee on Restitution and Reparations, in cooperation with the CARICOM Reparations Commission, has already done exhaustive work on this issue. We call for the recognition of the moral and historical debt and the implementation of fair and adequate reparations that will enable our people to free themselves from the invisible shackles of this unjust past," he said.