Historic verdict as Niger is convicted of failing to protect woman sold into slavery

Hadijatou Mani said: 'No woman should suffer the way I did'

The West African regional Court of Justice has convicted the state of Niger of failing to protect a 12-year-old girl from being sold into slavery, in what has been hailed as a victory for human rights.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice said Niger had failed in its obligations to Hadijatou Mani, who was sold into slavery as a child in 1996 for about £300 and regularly beaten and sexually abused.

"I am very happy with this decision," said Ms Mani, now 24. She spoke via an interpreter in the Hausa language spoken widely in Niger, in the Sahel region on the southern fringe of the Sahara. Ms Mani was once jailed for bigamy by a Niger court when her former master opposed her marriage to another man, insisting she had automatically become his own wife when he freed her in 2005.

The case against the state was brought with the help of British-based anti-slavery organisations as a test case to press African governments to stamp out slavery, which campaigners say is rife in some African countries, despite legal prohibitions. The court ordered Niger to pay 10 million CFA francs (£12,200) in damages. There is no right of appeal.

"These events were in the past," said Niger's African integration minister, Saidou Hachimou. "This was about righting a wrong, and the Court of Justice saw fit to say this is what should be done. Niger will accept that.

"It is now 2008 and I think Niger has made significant progress regarding slavery with the law voted in 2003 abolishing slavery."

The London-based group, Anti-Slavery International, said 43,000 people were enslaved in Niger, despite the law passed in 2003. Activists say slavery is common in some other countries, including Mauritania and Sudan.

"It was very difficult to challenge my former master and to speak out when people see you as nothing more than a slave," Ms Mani said in comments published by Anti-Slavery International, which helped her case. "But I knew that this was the only way to protect my child from suffering the same fate as myself. Nobody deserves to be enslaved. We are all equal and deserve to be treated the same ... no woman should suffer the way I did."

Anti-Slavery International said Ms Mani had been born the daughter of a slave and was bought by El Hadj Souleymane Naroua, a friend of her mother's master, at the age of 12.

She worked for Mr Naroua for nearly 10 years, doing unpaid household chores and agricultural labour. She was also used as a sex slave, known locally as a "wahiya", bearing three of his children, the organisation said.

Ms Mani said she would use the damages to build a house and send her children to school "so they can have the education I was never allowed as a slave".

Rights groups welcomed the ruling. "This historic verdict sets a legal precedent that we can take to neighbouring states where slavery remains an issue," said Romana Cacchioli, Africa programme co-ordinator for Anti-Slavery International.

"Niger now needs to look closely at its customary law courts to ensure that there is an end to the discrimination of women and to the acceptance of slavery at a local level."

TheECOWAS court, based in Nigeria, upheld Ms Mani's claim that the state had failed to protect her from slavery. But the court, which has been sitting in Niger's capital Niamey to hear the case, dismissed a second plank of the case, which accused the government of legitimising slavery through customary laws that campaigners say discriminate against women.

By Abdoulaye Massalatchi in Niamey
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
http://www.independent.co.uk