Overview
- French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, speaking in Lomé on Friday, said France abstained because it refuses to rank crimes against humanity or put victims’ suffering in competition.
- Barrot asked Togo to lift its ban on France 24 and Radio France Internationale, which authorities suspended in June 2025 over alleged biased reporting and which remain off air.
- During the two-day trip, the first by a French foreign minister to Togo since 2002, Barrot met President Faure Gnassingbé and Foreign Minister Robert Dussey to ease strains in the relationship.
- The UN General Assembly resolution, led by Ghana’s President John Mahama, declares the transatlantic enslavement of Africans among the gravest crimes and urges apologies, compensation, anti-racism policies, and restitution of seized cultural and spiritual property.
- The vote passed with 123 in favor, 3 against—United States, Israel, and Argentina—and 52 abstentions, including EU members, highlighting wider shifts in West African politics and France’s shrinking influence.