GG draws attention for declaring slavery an ongoing practice in Africa

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GG draws attention for declaring slavery an ongoing practice in Africa

Fri Apr 16, 5:59 PM

By Panetta, The Canadian Press

GOREE ISLAND, Senegal - First she drew attention in Africa for bluntly declaring

that slavery remained widespread, and then Gov. Gen. le visited a

dungeon with a dark past to illustrate her point Friday.

Jean's statement about the plight of children in Senegal was widely reported by

media in that country, where an in-depth survey has concluded that at least

50,000 boys are being exploited and frequently beaten at their religious

schools.

Her sentiments are supported by a new report from Human Rights Watch, an

organization that also describes as " slavery " a common Senegalese custom:

Islamic schools that send children out to beg for money all day, then often beat

them when they don't return with enough cash.

The country's so-called talibes, boys as young as four, can be seen wandering

through traffic in tattered clothes and pleading for money. Because charity is

considered a religious duty, people hand over enough donations to make the

schoolmasters wealthy by local standards.

Jean's visit made the front page of several newspapers Friday.

" Exploitation of Children In Senegal: le Calls It Slavery, " was one

headline in Le Quotidien newspaper, the day after surprised some

journalists at the presidential palace by making that assessment at a joint

press conference with the country's president.

Human-rights groups estimate that as many as 27 million people live in

modern-day slavery - and that there are more slaves in the world now than at any

point in human history.

They include unpaid labourers who work for room and board, women forced into the

sex trade, underage soldiers, and child workers who are paid a pittance.

The UN's High Commission on Human Rights has suggested a variety of means to

fight the problem, including product boycotts and mandatory labelling of goods

in industries - like carpet-weaving - where child exploitation has been a

problem.

This week's report on Senegal by Human Rights Watch urged the Senegalese

government to better regulate religious schools, which are popular because they

offer the promise of a free education.

As she visited a former slave-trading centre Friday, used the occasion to

illustrate her point for the second day in a row.

She was received jubilantly by dancing and singing locals on Goree Island. Now a

pastel-coloured tourist destination and UN World Heritage Site, the French used

this island to imprison slaves traded for guns and alcohol.

toured the former prison where slaves were once chained to walls by their

necks; where children were crammed, in the words of her tour guide, " like fish

in a sardine can, " with 150 kids crowded into a separate dungeon half the size

of a bowling alley; where men were sold for the price of a barrel of rum, while

women fetched the same price if they had attractive physical attributes.

" These captives were not considered human beings, " said Jean's guide, Eloi Coly.

" They were considered merchandise. "

People had their names taken away, and were assigned a number. They were marched

down a stone hallway through the infamous " Door of No Return, " then loaded onto

ships that carried them on a three-month - often fatal - journey to the new

world.

A teary-eyed after the tour, said descendents of former slaves and former

slave-owners can work together today on a common cause: ending modern-day

slavery.

" This place is not about the history of black peoples. It's about us all, " Jean

told Canadian and Senegalese journalists.

" Whether we are of European descent, and probably related to those who committed

that crime of slavery and slave trade, or whether we are of African descent, we

all belong to that history. "

She delivered a similarly contemporary message four years ago during a visit to

Ghana. During a visit to a similar prison there, she knelt on the ground and

broke into sobs, then waved off a question about what special meaning the place

carried for someone like her, the descendant of African slaves.

repeated Friday that it would be a mistake to view slavery uniquely through

the prism of African history.

" It's about us all. And it's about how life can triumph over barbarism. And we

must stand together today, to really fight every situation that denies rights,

dignity and humanity to people in the world today. Slavery is still a fact

today, in so many different ways, " she said.

" Human-trafficking, injustices, are still a reality today. But we are together -

and we can say no to it. It's a responsibility. "

On Friday, also addressed a school where Canadian aid money has helped

train young Senegalese journalists over the years and, on the second full day of

her 10-day trip to Africa, she met with a women's group after touring Goree's

House of Slaves.

Just outside that old prison, young Amadou Guisse spends the whole day working.

He started three years ago, when he was only 10. Guisse follows tourists onto a

ferry and, to earn a few dollars on the ride back and forth from the capital,

Dakar, he goes around the boat urging tourists to let him shine their shoes.

Guisse shook his head when asked whether he keeps any of the money he earns.

" It's for my family, " he said. " Everything. "