Hadijatou Mani victory should mean freedom for thousands of slaves in west Africa

The is taken from the Guardian. It is excellent news. The justice arm of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) court has convicted Niger of failing to protect a young girl sold into slavery in a landmark judgment with potentially far-reaching implications for the tens of thousands of people who remain enslaved in the region.

Yhe court ruled that Niger, where slavery remains common in rural areas despite being officially abolished five years ago, failed in its obligations to protect Hadijatou Mani.Mani, who brought the test case with the assistance of British anti-slavery groups, said she was sold into slavery at the age of 12 for around £325 and regularly beaten and sexually abused.The court, sitting in the capital, Niamey, ordered the state to pay her 10 million CFA francs (about £12,000) in damages and accumulated interest.

"I am very happy with this decision...It was very difficult to challenge my former master and to speak out when people see you as nothing more than a slave. But I knew that this was the only way to protect my child from suffering the same fate. Nobody deserves to be enslaved." Mani told Reuters reporters after the ruling was announced.

"We are law-abiding and will respect this decision," Mossi Boubacar, a legal official for Niger's government, told Reuters.The ruling by the panel of judges from Senegal, Mali and Togo is the first time Ecowas had been asked to rule on slavery. It is binding for all the organisation's 15 member nations. As well as Niger - where a recent study by the London-based Anti-Slavery International and local human rights group Timidria estimated at least 43,000 people were enslaved - the practice remains widespread in other west African nations such as another Ecowas member, Mali, and Mauritania.

Slavery was officially outlawed in Mauritania in 1981 but some human rights groups estimate up to 20% of the country's 3m people are still enslaved. A Malian human rights group, Temedt, estimated there were at least 7,000 slaves in just one region of the country, Gao. Anti-Slavery International described how slaves in Niger were owned and completely controlled by their masters, receiving only minimal food and a place to sleep in return for their labour.

The life of a sadaka, or sexual slave, was described in detail by Mani during the court case. She explained how she had been born a slave, sold and then transferred as a child against her mother's wishes to a man. She testified that she had been raped at 13 and constantly forced to have sex with her 63-year-old master, who owned seven other slaves. In 2005, two years after Niger enacted a law forbidding slavery, Mani was presented with a liberation certificate. This proved to be worthless, as she was immediately forced into a "wahiya marriage", giving her the status of a concubine.When she fled and married another man, her master had her arrested and charged with bigamy. She was imprisoned for two months on remand.

The issue has become deeply embarrassing for the government of Niger, which has failed to act on evidence of continued and widespread slavery in rural areas....I say screw embarrassment. Slavery is an evil practice that should have been wiped off the face of the earth a long time ago. We shall see if Niger and Mali now honour this ruling and free the slaves. The hell with tradition.