(Bamako) A young man who was a hereditary slave in western Mali has been killed and six people who were violently injured have been charged this week with those who consider themselves their masters, witnesses said Friday.
Although these facts officially abolished slavery in 1905, they shed light on the reality of so-called hereditary slavery in various parts of Mali.
Before European colonization
Retaining the capture of individuals that existed before colonialism, humans or groups are considered slaves from birth, and their status is transmitted in a hereditary way.
Violence against these people since September 28 has resulted in the death of a young man in Tamora in the Gays region, a few dozen kilometers from the Senegalese border.
“Seven people were injured, but today (Friday), young Diego Cissே was injured,” a young resident from Tamora told AFP. The other six injured are there. One of them, an old man, lost a lot of blood, ”he added.
Videos circulating on social networking sites show children being tied up and abused by those armed with knives and knives.
“We want to liberate ourselves, but it will not be easy,” Yara Golibali of the Association Against Dominance and Slavery told the AFP. According to him, the videos show “revenge organized by so-called village leaders and nobles”. “When parties decide to organize popular celebrations, they attack our parents,” he said.
“This should not continue, we will fight this slavery through descent and domination of all kinds,” he said.
Mamati Kanuda, another resident of the village, condemned the silence of the public and regular authorities.
Gender groups arrived at the scene Friday morning, according to Pudola Tour.
Human rights organizations have expressed their anger.
Slaves were attacked more and more
The National Commission for Human Rights (CNDH) has expressed “deep concern” over the proposed “resurgence” of such acts in the region. To put an end to it, he asked the government to “do everything” to bring the perpetrators and their accomplices to justice.
As part of this, the Human Rights Defender’s Movement (MSDH) calls on the authorities to “rehabilitate these interim practices that undermine basic human freedoms and threaten the stability of the country.”
In July, UN experts called on Mali to prevent such attacks, saying it would injure more than twice as many people in 2021 than in 2020.
Their reaction was followed on July 4 by an incident in which residents of the village of Magadoku in the Kayes region tried to prevent people who considered themselves slaves from working in their fields.
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