Country
Modern slavery in Sudan
5 documented cases recorded in Sudan, 1999–2009. Locations are deliberately generalized to protect survivors.
Northern Sudan, Sudan
Arab-Dinka Peace Committees assisted by an Organization called CSI intervened on their behalf. They were transported by truck to Southern Sudan by the Government of Sudan's Committee for the Eradication of the Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC). They were delivered to registration centers at Gok Machar and Warawar. Futher information: http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=1462
Sudan, Sudan
MALWAL KON, Sudan — 607 liberated slaves returned to their homeland of northern Bahr El Ghazal, Southern Sudan between Jan. 23 and Feb. 2, 2005.They were assembled in Northern Sudanese towns and villages and transported by truck to Southern Sudan by the Government of Sudan's Committee for the Eradication of the Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC). They were delivered to registration centers at Gok Machar and Warawar. More information: http://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php?idx=1462
Kirio, Sudan, Sudan
The victim was taken to Kirio, where he was given to an Arab man, who presented him to the entire household. They all beat him. There he was always called me 'abeed,' which means black slave, and he had to sleep with the cows and was always fed leftovers from the master's table. A couple of years after his capture, he tried to escape but was easily recaptured and beaten and tied up for 10 days, he said. Years later, he tried again and was recaptured and beaten and threatened with death. He said would rather be dead than a slave. So he tried it again and was successful, being helped by an Arab truck driver, only to be found by some local policemen, who made him serve them for seven months. He escaped and, with the help of an Egyptian, made his way to Cairo, where a United Nations body eventually helped him get to the nation of his choice: the United States. He went to Fargo, N.D.; then Iowa, and later Boston, where he joined up with Charles Jacobs, who started an abolitionist movement two years ago, the American Anti-Slavery Group. Since joining with Jacobs, a Harvard graduate, he has been speaking out on Sudanese slavery, and he is the first escaped Sudanese slave to testify before a U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. "I'm speaking for people who can't speak for themselves," he said. "I'm a witness for what is happening in the Sudan today. As a Christian community, we must do something for the suffering of my people." More information: http://www.haitiwebs.com/haitianforums/showthread.php?t=401
Khartoum, Sudan, Sudan
Brad Phillips of Persecution Project Foundation says that since the 1980s, the Muslim National Islamic Front government has sanctioned the taking of Christians and animists from the south part of the nation to be sold to Muslims as slaves in the north. The two sides have been engaged in a civil war for several years. In this human trafficking case, the victim was a Sudanese Dinka boy was sold into slavery at age 7 in 1987. His Arab master officially gave him an Arab name, but always referred to him only as “abid”, meaning “black slave.” He served his master for ten years, and was often beaten, tortured and abused. His master considered all blacks, and especially Christians, as lower than animals. The victim was raised Christian and desired to worship God, but his master told him every day that he had no business worshipping, since he was of no more value than a donkey. One Sunday, the victim heard singing coming from a Christian church and was drawn to join in. While he was in worship, some of the camels that he had been charged with escaped. His master flew into a rage and swore to kill him in the same way that Jesus was killed. He beat the victim severely from head to toe, then laid him on a plank and nailed him there, driving spikes through his hands, knees, and feet. He then poured acid on his legs and left him for dead. The victim lay on the plank for seven days, but the master’s son showed him kindness by secretly bringing him food and water and eventually took him to a medical facility. The victim eventually returned to his master, but he saw little value in the now-crippled boy.
Gos, Sudan, Sudan
The young woman victim was visiting her younger sister's home near Warawar when she was captured. It during the dry season. The soldiers came early in the morning. Everyone was asleep. Her sister and her woke up with the sound of gunfire. They ran out of her tukul hut as fast as they could. But they did not get very far. They were surrounded. There were a lot of Arab soldiers all around them. Some wore uniforms, others wore jellabeyas. They had come at night on camels and horses. Six soldiers grabbed the victim. She struggled with them and tried to get away. But they beat her with a big stick. She had to submit. Scars on her back are still visible from the wound she received during the beating. They tied her hands together with a rope and led her away to the bush. They raped her in the bush, one after the other, all six of them. After that, she had to walk beyond the River Kiir with the other slaves. Her hands were tied to a long rope. Her sister was tied to it too. Along the way they were beaten and raped. They walked for four days. Then they reached a place where the soldiers divided them and the cows and goats amongst themselves. She was given to a slavmaster, and her sister was given to another. The victim's slavemaster was a good friend of the leader of the raiders. He had a body guard and was responsible for distributing slaves and cattle amongst the PDF. This meant that he was away from home a lot. He took the victim to his home in Gos, Sudan, where she had to do housework for his wife, an Arab woman who frequently hit the victim with a big stick, even when she was ill, and made her sleep outside in the courtyard, where there was no shelter over her head. Only when it rained did she let the victim sleep in the covered cattle pen. Sometimes the slavemaster would come to the victim at night, and take me to the cattle pen for sex. Whenever the wife discovered that her husband was missing at night, she would give the victim a good beating on the next day because her husband had come to her. The victim gave birth to the slavemaster's baby, who was seven months old at the time of her liberation. The slave master called him Ahmed, a very common Arab name, but the mother called him another name. The worst part about being with the slavemaster and his wife were their threats to kill the victim. Whenever they told her to get water from a far place, or do some other hard labor, they would say that they would cut her throat if I didn't obey. The master would threaten her like this when he wanted to have sex with her. The victim's sister's throat was cut by her master. The master's children told the victim they saw her sister's body when they were going to the well. They said she had tried to escape, but was caught. The victim was so afraid, she thought she had to get away from there. She knew that the master loved his child by her and would never let him go, so she wanted to escape with him. One day, she was told by a woman who was cultivating in the fields that a trader was looking for slaves to return to their homes. She decided to escape and ran with the child to the forest. There she came across a Dinka man who took care of her and helped her get home again. She likes hearing her own name again. She also like it because no one calls her 'abid' (slave) or 'jongei' (nigger) anymore.