A local Niger tribal chief + the nation of Niger! Some information about the man from what is known about the victim: "She was born in 1984. As the daughter of a slave, she inherited her mother’s servile status. At the age of 12 years, she was sold by a representative of her mother’s owner for the sum of 240000CFA (equivalent to $US 400). Her new master had four wives and seven other ‘sadaka’ (female slaves). She was raped at the age of 13 years and subjected to constant sexual harassment and abuse thereafter. She bore three children, one of whom died. She was beaten, forced to endure harsh labour seven days a week without remuneration or vacation. She lived on a daily diet of insults and degradation by her master who reminded her constantly that she was a slave. She described how she was treated ‘like a goat’. On several occasions she tried to escape and was severely punished. In 2005, her master decided to ‘liberate’ Hadijatou in order to regularise his relationship with her and make her one of his wives. He duly provided her with a ‘liberation certificate’, later presented to the Court, which stated that ‘I, El Hadj Souleymane Naroua have liberated Mme Hadijatou Koreau on this day 18 August and she is now free and is no-one’s slave.’ The certificate was signed by ‘the chef du village’, ‘the master’ and the ‘beneficiary’. Once she received her ‘liberation certificate’, Hadijatou left and refused to marry her former master. This provoked two parallel lines of legal cases in Nigerçher attempts to secure recognition of her right to be free, and her prosecution, at her former master’s instigation, for bigamy. When Hadijatou challenged the verdict, (that she was married to her former master) before the Supreme Court, the highest court of Niger acknowledged that she was a slave, but failed to condemn this as unlawful or treat it as determinative of the question whether she was obliged to live with her former master. Thus, the state of Niger did not protect her and was consequently charged with protecting slavery.
Location
Niger · Sahel region of Niger · 2010
(location generalized to protect survivors) Response & intervention
it is the Niger state that is convicted. They did not protect the victim from slavery. "Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS Court) on 27 October 2008, the state of Niger was found in violation of its international obligations to protect Hadijatou Mani from slavery. The judgment has been referred to as historic, which is justified in several respects. This is one of the first slavery cases ever to be won at the international level3 and the first to expose and condemn the practice of slavery in Niger,which although widespread continues to be denied by the state." http://www.interights.org/view-document/index.htm?id=536
The victim, Hadijatou Mani, received a letter of freedom from her master, but later a court said that she was still a slave and married to her master. She challenged this in court. An international agency helped her bring this to the "Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States" (ECOWAS Court)) which has authority across most of West Africa. This court found Niger in breach of its own laws and international obligations in protecting its citizens from slavery. The Court has made clear that Niger is obliged to take positive measures to protect its citizens from slavery. Ms Mani is to be compensated 10 million CFA, the equivalent of £12,300/$19,000 in damages." In deciding the issue of compensation the Court has regard to the 'physical, psychological and moral harm due to the nine (09) years during which she was held in slavery'. As a result the victim has rebuilt her modest home, which she shares with her mother and her young child, and bought several cows and goats that enable her to be economically self sufficient. She has invested some of the monetary award in savings for her family for the future. The criminal case against her for bigamy, which had been pending throughout the ECOWAS proceedings, has been lifted and she is now a free woman living as part of a family and a community. The victim has been honoured for her courage in various contexts, including being awarded the US State Department’s ‘International Woman of Courage award 2009'. http://www.interights.org/niger-slavery http://www.interights.org/niger-slavery#UpdateJuly2009
"Romana Cacchioli, the Africa expert of the ASI (Anti-Slavery International), said: “This [judgment in favour of the victim] will help free other women all over the region ... There is nothing more fundamental than the right to freedom. People in Niger now know that if a slave can take the State to court and win, then they too can confidently stand up for their human rights.” The court ruling will be binding on all member states and will have consequences for people elsewhere. “This historic verdict sets a legal precedent that we can take to neighbouring states where slavery remains an issue. 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.” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5026885.ece
additional information http://www.interights.org/niger-slavery#UpdateJuly2009 and http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5026885.ece (must be subscriber to view)
The case was supported byAnti-Slavery International and Nigerian Anti- Slavery Organisation,Timidria.
Documented on the original SlaveryMap (2008–2016). Use “Report a problem” below to add a source or flag an issue.