London, 6 September 2026 – “We go fearless into another chapter in our story when we petition, His Majesty King Charles on the matter of reparations” said the Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange.

The Minister made the comment on Sunday (6 September) during her address at an ecumenical church Service of Remembrance, Justice and Repair held at the New Park Road Baptist Church in London on the eve of filing the historic petition.

The church service commemorated the 245th anniversary of the Zong massacre when approximately one-third of the Africans being transported to be enslaved as chattel in Jamaica were thrown overboard the slave ship in a scheme to collect insurance for loss of property.

“They threw approximately 140 Africans to their deaths, children, women and men… It was mass murder without a second thought,” declared the Minister who described the Zong massacre as a powerful illustration of the gravest crime against humanity.

The Minister said “the Zong stood out for the barbarity of the crew as well as the temerity of the owners of the ship, the Gregson syndicate from Liverpool, who knew that the crew had deliberately killed more than one-third of the Africans onboard, but still decided to make a claim on their insurers for loss of property.”

The insurers refused to honour the claim which resulted in the ship owners taking the ultimately unsuccessful matter to the English court.

Minister Grange said Jamaica’s filing of a reparations petition on King Charles was to honour the African ancestors who suffered under hundreds of years of enslavement on the island. In this she included the victims of the Zong massacre and those who survived the perilous and torturous trip to Black River in 1781.

The Minister said she took inspiration from the many heroes who fought for and won our freedoms including National Heroes, the Right Excellent Sam Sharpe, the Right Excellent Nanny of the Maroons, Tacky, Kojo, Accompong, and Fyah as she files the petition to His Majesty King Charles on Monday, September 7, 2026.

“We do not come begging. We come, once more, as in the case of the Zong massacre, looking to the English court for a just decision,” said Minister Grange.

The petition asks the King, in his capacity of Head of State of Jamaica, to refer three questions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Jamaica’s highest court.

The Minister summarised the questions as follows:
“Was the seizure, transport and enslavement as chattel of Africans ever lawful under English law? Was it a breach of international law to seize, transport and enslave Africans in Jamaica? And whether the UK has a legal obligation to provide a reparatory remedy to the people of Jamaica?”

Emphasising that this a legal procedure, instead of a political one, Minister Grange said, “We anticipate that His Majesty will accept our petition and refer the questions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.”

The Minister also addressed those opposed to the government’s petition.

“We are ready for those who will deny and oppose. To them I say, as we’ve been taught, let justice ring.”

END