West African court convicts Niger in slavery case
source: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE49Q2RM20081027?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
By Abdoulaye Massalatchi
NIAMEY (Reuters) - A West African regional court of justice convicted the state of Niger on Monday for failing to protect a 12-year-old girl from being sold into slavery in a case anti-slavery campaigners hope will set a precedent.
The regional ECOWAS Court of Justice ruled that Niger had failed in its obligations to protect Hadijatou Mani, who says she was sold into slavery in 1996 for around $500 and regularly beaten and sexually abused.
"I am very happy with this decision," Mani, now 24, told reporters at the court. Her comments, in the Hausa language spoken widely in Africa's Sahel region on the southern fringe of the Sahara, were translated by an interpreter.
NIAMEY (Reuters) - A West African regional court of justice convicted the state of Niger on Monday for failing to protect a 12-year-old girl from being sold into slavery in a case anti-slavery campaigners hope will set a precedent.
The regional ECOWAS Court of Justice ruled that Niger had failed in its obligations to protect Hadijatou Mani, who says she was sold into slavery in 1996 for around $500 and regularly beaten and sexually abused.
"I am very happy with this decision," Mani, now 24, told reporters at the court. Her comments, in the Hausa language spoken widely in Africa's Sahel region on the southern fringe of the Sahara, were translated by an interpreter.
