By Peter Beaumont and Alexander Carnwath
In one of the most extraordinary episodes in African legal history, a panel of judges from Senegal, Mali and Togo will tomorrow issue a verdict expected to give fresh hope to more than 40,000 people being held as slaves in rural Niger and across the region.
The landmark case of Hadijatou Mani, a courageous young woman of 24, will be heard in a packed court in Niger's capital, Niamey, which will decide whether Niger's government has failed to protect Ms Mani and tens of thousands like her who have been enslaved, despite the practice being outlawed five years ago.
If she wins her case, which is being heard by the justice arm of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), she is likely to be awarded compensation of up to £40,000, in a humiliating reversal for the authorities she blames for her lost youth.
Ms Mani was sold into slavery at the age of 12 and repeatedly raped by her master. Her appalling story is familiar in a country where the ownership of slaves, many from a hereditary slave caste, has been commonplace, particularly in remote rural areas. Read more ...
In one of the most extraordinary episodes in African legal history, a panel of judges from Senegal, Mali and Togo will tomorrow issue a verdict expected to give fresh hope to more than 40,000 people being held as slaves in rural Niger and across the region.
The landmark case of Hadijatou Mani, a courageous young woman of 24, will be heard in a packed court in Niger's capital, Niamey, which will decide whether Niger's government has failed to protect Ms Mani and tens of thousands like her who have been enslaved, despite the practice being outlawed five years ago.
If she wins her case, which is being heard by the justice arm of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), she is likely to be awarded compensation of up to £40,000, in a humiliating reversal for the authorities she blames for her lost youth.
Ms Mani was sold into slavery at the age of 12 and repeatedly raped by her master. Her appalling story is familiar in a country where the ownership of slaves, many from a hereditary slave caste, has been commonplace, particularly in remote rural areas. Read more ...
Source: The Observer
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