The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination said that countries are legally required to examine compensation for the transatlantic slave trade and to take action to address the enduring legacy of racial discrimination.

Based on a document the committee published on Monday, those obligations stem from the legally binding 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, not from legal standards in force at the time of the transatlantic slave trade.

In the UN document, published under the title “General Recommendation No. 40,” it states: “States parties should implement comprehensive remedial measures for people of African descent that cover all aspects of reparation.”

The committee emphasized that “compensatory justice” combines a “wide range of monetary, non-monetary and structural measures.”

The document was adopted last week and published on Monday, and may be cited in courts.