http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6938032.stm
Good news for Mauritania! Its Parliament just passed a legislation that punishes the practice of slavery with up to 10 years in prison, and the promotion of such practice with two years. Even though slavery was banned in 1981, it remains a serious problem in Mauritania. According to the article, up to 20% of the population are slaves. I hope that the government will actually enforce the legislation and put more resources into hunting down people involved in the practice of slavery. After all, if you don't go and catch those people, they will just ignore the law. Also, I think the punishment for both the practice and the promotion should be more severe. Two years is really not that long; by the time they are released, the only lesson that they will have learnt is to be more careful, and then will will be back into the lucrative business. Moreover, if the Mauritanian government is serious about eradicating slavery, they should come up with a better and more concrete definition of what constitutes the practice of slavery and the promotion of the the practice of slavery. Having that said, I do want to say "Bravo!" to Mauritania for taking the first step. The passing of the legislation has definitely brought hope for future dialogues and actions to combat slavery!
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2 comments:
I really enjoyed your thoughtful comments on this issue. Especially considering that I don't know anything about the issue. I deffinatly feel there should be harsher consequences for slave holders, and I also hope that the government will follow through with punishing those people.
It is hard to imagine that secret slave trade has just started to be punished as a crime. It sad to think that human rights are infringed on like this. Many works get caught in a perpetual cycle of debt and forced to work to pay off the landholders making it slavery without the label. I think that strict punishment is needed and hopefully they will enforce these new regulations. I'm glade you brought this to attention, because not many people think these type of thing is still a issue.
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