Reparations Primer: What Is Haiti Owed?
- In 1825 France threatened Haiti with gunboats and required an indemnity of 150 million francs, almost twice what the United States paid for the Louisiana Territory 22 years earlier.
- Haiti completed repayment in 1947, with the heaviest burden falling on rural peasants through taxes on coffee and other agricultural products.
- A 2022 New York Times investigation estimated the cost of the ransom at least $21 billion in 2022 dollars, and some economists estimate it closer to $115 billion.
- The Brattle Group estimated that France may owe Haiti approximately $6 trillion for the harms of chattel enslavement during colonial rule.
- The primer builds a legal claim for restitution on unjust enrichment, arguing that the 1825 agreement was signed under duress, and names the passage of time, standing and jurisdiction as obstacles.
- It says Haitian advocates see the campaign for restitution and reparations as linked to building a democratic state.
The primer opens with the 1825 ordinance under which France, with gunboats off Port-au-Prince, obtained a payment of 150 million francs in exchange for recognizing Haitian independence, and with the loans from French banks that followed. It states that Haiti completed repayment in 1947, that a 2022 New York Times investigation put the cost at least $21 billion in 2022 dollars (some economists estimate closer to $115 billion), and that the Brattle Group estimated that France may owe Haiti approximately $6 trillion for the harms of chattel enslavement. It recalls President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's 2003 call for France to pay $21 billion and the renewed attention in 2025, the 200th anniversary of the indemnity agreement.
Chapter I discusses the purposes of reparations and global efforts by CARICOM, the African Union and movements in the United States. Chapter II presents the forms of reparations (restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-recurrence) and what each could mean in Haiti, stressing that Haitians must determine their demands. Chapter III sets out a legal claim based on unjust enrichment, with duress as the argument that the 1825 agreement was invalid, and the obstacles of the passage of time, standing and jurisdiction. Chapter IV gives case studies from Namibia, Martinique, the Mau Mau claims in Kenya and torture survivors in Chicago.
How to cite
Global Justice Clinic, 2026, Reparations Primer: What Is Haiti Owed?, https://en.ayitikanpemin.org/s/Reparations-Primer-ENGLISH-digital-accessible.pdf
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- Global Justice Clinic