IRIN Focus on slavery

Three slaves, tired of life in captivity, fled their master's camp in November and sought refuge in Abalack, 650 km north of Niger's capital, Niamey. They then revealed their story of bondage to representatives of an anti-slavery association, Timidria, who took them to the gendarmes (militarised police) to file formal complaints. Acting on the complaints, the police visited the camp of the slave owner, a nomad chief called Waglassane Ouksoum, intending to arrest him. He escaped, but the police rescued 12 other slaves. "The former captives accused Waglassane of slavery, physical abuse, rape and abduction", Ilguiilas Weila, president of Timidria told IRIN. 'Timidria' means 'Freedom' in Tamachek, the language of the Tuaregs of the southern Sahara - some of whom have been listed by anti-slavery groups among the main perpetrators of slavery in the West African state of Niger. A number of nomadic Arabs have also been listed. The former slaves - three men, three women, and nine children aged 16 months to eight years - were being taken care of by Timidria and the villagers in Abalack, Weila said. "When they arrived, the adults were in rags and barefoot. The children were naked. They told stories of abuse and degradation," he added. One of them, Oumou Raicha, told Timidria that for many years, she was repeatedly raped by Waglassane. "Since I was a small child, my master used to force me to sleep with him," she was quoted as saying. "I had many suitors, but the master opposed my marriage on many occasions. What I want now is to have a family and live freely." She had three daughters by her master, two of whom died. The third, eight-year-old Aggada, was taken from her by Waglassane and given to his "legitimate" daughter as a "marriage gift". However, when a complaint was filed with the police, the child was returned to her mother. Another ex-slave, a 47-year-old man, complained that the chief often forced his wife out of their home to go and sleep with him or to work in his camp. In a taped testimony recorded by Timidria, the 35-year-old woman, Altana, said: "Sometimes, in the middle of the night, when I was with my husband, the master used to come and wake me up to take me into his tent. He would try to sleep with me at all costs. If I refused, he whipped me and prevented me from going back home until the next morning." Although banned by law, slavery is still practised in Niger. The government, which is a signatory to ILO conventions against forced labour, has also adopted new anti-slavery provisions to be included in the country's penal code. These provide for prison terms of 10 to 30 years and fines of one million CFA francs (about US $1375), to five million CFA francs (around US $6875) for people found guilty of enslavement. Similar penalties are applicable to "a master or his accomplice (who) has sexual relations with a woman considered a slave or the wife of a man considered a slave", and " to anyone found guilty of placing a woman considered a slave at the disposal of another person with a view to having sexual relations". Traditional chiefs from various communities pledged at a mid-November forum to "work towards the eradication of forced labour and slave-like practices in keeping with International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions". The forum, held in Niamey, was organised by Niger's Ministry of Public Service, ILO, UNDP, and UNICEF. Its aim was to mobilise and sensitise traditional chiefs against slavery and encourage them to help the government fight against forced labour. "We have slaves inherited from our parents," one Tuareg chief was reported as saying by the French news agency AFP, "but I did not know that was slavery. They are victims who no longer want to leave us". A lecturer at the University of Niamey explained this phenomenon as that of "slaves who cling to their masters because they give them a roof and food". Weila told IRIN a freed slave, Intilitaden, once said he had no complaint against his status. "I have good relations with the master," Intilitaden said. "He does not beat me, he respects my will and he gives me money when he makes me work." There are other factors, too, that point to the complexity of the issue. "When a slave has been freed, he tries to find his family right away. But most times, the father or mother is also a slave somewhere else in another family. Chances are that the masters of his parents would re-enslave him," said Weila. " That is the drama of slavery." While there are no exact statistics on numbers of slaves currently in the West African state, reminders that slavery exists in Niger keep cropping up from time to time. In June 2000, soldiers from an outpost at Inates near the town of Tillabery - 130 km west of Niamey - handed over to Timidria a woman and her three children. They had been abandoned by their master. In November 1998, another woman, Boulboulou, then 18 years old, was delivered to the anti-slavery organisation after escaping from her master, an Arab chief called Hami Ould Hami. She had been abducted and sold at the age of four. Recalling the abduction, she was quoted as telling Timidria: "I was guarding sheep near a camp when a stranger riding a camel grabbed hold of me and took me away like a common package,". From that day, her life was like that of a beast of burden. She was the first to rise at dawn, and the last to go to sleep. When she reached adolescence, she was designated as the companion of a male slave. From that forced union was born a daughter, Joumgha. The chief later gave the child to his daughter as a 'marriage gift'. Timidria, which has been conducting a nationwide anti-slavery campaign for years, is aware of cases among some nomadic communities where young slave girls are prevented from getting married so that they can later be sold. "In April 2000, two young girls were sold to Nigerian businessmen," according to Weila, who said they got wind of the transaction and intervened. Slavery exists even in the city of Niamey, according to Timidria. "Young people presented to visitors as servants, are often people earlier received as marriage gifts or through the system of inheritance," it said. Human rights advocate Idrissa Boubacar told IRIN slavery impedes economic and social development. "The victims do not undertake any private initiatives, knowing that they will not benefit from their work," he said. "They prefer to adopt an attitude of passive resistance and demonstrate a lack of interest in anything that is of public interest". The regions most affected by slavery, said Idrissa, are also those worst hit by emigration because young descendants of slaves often escape from communities where they would be enslaved. But another human rights advocate, Alio Sani, feels the practice will not survive for much longer. "The education of young people, the development of associations and decentralisation are indispensable to the emancipation of victims of slavery," he said. "They will experience freedom of management, the right to be counted and to vote, and especially, direct protection from the authorities who know the political future depends on them." In the meantime, the ability of Niger's anti-slavery campaigners to raise the resources they need continues to be a big challenge. "We know there are slaves in many places in Niger, but unfortunately we do not have the means to find all of them," Weila told IRIN. "Our association does not even have a vehicle for moving around."