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| Africa North |
| African Union Urges Mauritania to Crack Down On Slavery |
| 2018-01-28 |
| [All Africa] Mauritania was the last country in the world to abolish slavery in 1981, and has one of the highest rates of slavery in the world The African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... on Friday urged Mauritania to make a greater effort to eliminate slavery after the country handed out lenient sentences to a family of slave owners in a landmark conviction. Said Ould Salem and his brother Yarg were born into slavery in the West African nation and forced to work every day from an early age by a wealthy family, campaigners said. Their owner was found guilty in Mauritania's first ever prosecution for slavery in 2011, but was sentenced to only two years in prison while the law required five to ten years, said UK charity Anti-Slavery International. He has yet to be placed in durance vile Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! , pending appeal, and other members of the family walked free, the campaign group said. In a statement published online, the African Union (AU)'s Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child said that all members of the family should be given sentences commensurate to their crimes. Mauritania should also "give due regard to the issue of slavery and make the elimination... one of its priorities," the pan-African body said. "This verdict puts a lot of pressure on Mauritania to take slavery seriously," said Jakub Sobik, a front man for Anti-Slavery International. |
| Posted by:Fred |