BLACK TAMACHEKS LOBBY FOR ANTI-SLAVERY LAW IN MALI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAMAKO 000111

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR G/TIP VERONICA ZEITLIN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM SOCI ELAB ML
SUBJECT: BLACK TAMACHEKS LOBBY FOR ANTI-SLAVERY LAW IN MALI

REF: 08 BAMAKO 00702

1.(SBU) Summary: On February 17 the Embassy met with a leader
of the Black Tamachek group TEMEDT and a British solicitor,
Michael Ellman, sent to Mali by the U.S. based International
Senior Lawyers Project to help TEMEDT document cases of
slavery in Mali and draft legislation criminalizing the
practice. Mr. Ellman's visit to Mali followed a visit by a
Nigerien lawyer who participated in an April 2008 Nigerien
slavery case brought before the Court of Justice for the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Mr.
Ellman said he was stunned by the number of slavery cases he
and TEMEDT discovered during visits to Timbuktu, Gao, and
towns in between. Mr. Ellman was also surprised by the
apparent support and encouragement he received from Malian
government officials regarding the eradication of slavery in
Mali. Several important political parties in Bamako also
signaled their support for legislation, based on laws already
enacted by neighboring Mauritania and Niger, criminalizing
slavery in Mali. TEMEDT leaders reported no progress in any
of the slavery cases already submitted to Malian courts but
said they would rather let the Malian judicial system play
out than go around the Malian government to seek recourse
from ECOWAS. End Summary.

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More Slavery Cases in Northern Mali
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2.(SBU) On February 17 TEMEDT member Abdoulaye Macko and
British solicitor Michael Ellman shared with the Embassy
findings culled from a just completed trip to Timbuktu, Gao,
and towns in between to document cases of slavery in Mali.
Mr. Ellman said the number of slavery cases that he and
TEMEDT discovered during the course of their journey was
stunning. As word of Mr. Ellman's visit spread to black
Tamachek communities in the Timbuktu and Gao regions, more
and more people came forward with information regarding slave
holders or family members still subjected to slavery. We
were previously aware of four slavery cases brought by black
Tamacheks: Agiachatou walet Touka's case in Menaka; Iddar ag
Ogazide's case in Gao; Tatche walet Ekadaye's case in Menaka;
and the kidnapping of Moumou ag Tamou in Kidal.

3.(SBU) In the village of Gourma Rharous, along the road the
runs between Timbuktu and Gao, Mr. Ellman helped secure what
Macko described as "the first" official liberation of a black
Tamachek slave in Mali. According to Ellman and Macko, in
November 2008 a black Tamachak woman known only as Nalewat -
it is not uncommon for black Tamachek slaves to have just one
name as they have no official documents or government records
- escaped her Imghad Tuareg master in the village of Bambara
Maoude after 14 years of slavery. Macko said Nalewat had
been abducted at the age of 9. She filed a complaint with
police in Rharous, but was reclaimed by her master in
December before any legal action was taken.

4.(SBU) While in Gourma Rharous, Ellman and Macko met with
the local mayor and also with a local lawyer hired by TEMEDT
for Nalewat. With the support of the Rharous mayor, Ellman
and Macko then visited a judge who enlisted a small group of
local authorities - a northern Malian posse of sorts - to
visit the encampment in Bambara Maoude where Nalewat was
being held. Upon arrival, the son of Nalewat's master
directed the group to Nalewat. The group then returned to
Gourma Rharous with both Nalewat and her child. Mr. Ellman
said Nalewat's legal complaint, filed against her now former
master, demands damages in the form of compensation for 14
years of unpaid labor. Macko and Ellman said they expected
Nalewat to settle for CFA 1 million or USD 2,000.

5.(SBU) Ellman said that envoys sent by Nalewat's master
attempted to stop his vehicle on the outskirts of Timbuktu
and again in the town of Sevare, which is halfway between
Timbuktu and Bamako. It was not clear whether the envoys
were attempting to threaten Ellman, or plead the master's
case, or negotiate some kind of settlement. Macko and Ellman
also relayed details of another slavery case, this time in
Timbuktu, involving a black Tamachek man known only as
Aboubacrine and his five children. Ellman said he and TEMEDT
helped Aboubacrine file a legal complaint with local
authorities in Timbuktu.

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Support from Malian Government Officials
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6.(SBU) Ellman told the Embassy that all of the local

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officials he met with both in Bamako and points north,
including Governors and Prefects, accepted the existence of
slavery in Mali - a remarkable statement in itself as many
government officials' standard refrain is that slavery does
not exist in Mali. Mr. Ellman said this included senior
leaders of the Union for the Republic and Democracy Party
(URD) and the opposition PARENA party. Both the URD and
PARENA encouraged TEMEDT to pursue draft legislation
criminalizing slavery in Mali based on similar laws already
enacted by neighboring Mauritania and Niger. On February 23
TEMEDT's vice president, Ibrahim ag Idbaltanat, told the
Embassy that Mali's two largest political parties - Alliance
for Democracy and Change (ADEMA) and the Rally for Mali (RPM)
- had also welcomed Mr. Ellman and expressed support for a
law criminalizing slavery.

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Current Cases Still Stalled
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7.(SBU) Mr. Ellman said there was no movement on any of the
four cases of slavery already submitted to Malian judicial
authorities in Gao, Menaka and Kidal. Ellman and Macko
attributed delays in Menaka to the absence of a magistrate as
the person tapped to replace the town's previous magistrate
has reportedly refused to accept an assignment to the distant
town east of Gao. Ellman said TEMEDT has asked Malian
officials to formally transfer the two cases pending in
Menaka to courts in Gao. Mr. Ellman said TEMEDT was still
exploring whether to elevate these cases to the ECOWAS Court
of Justice but indicated that he and TEMEDT preferred to give
the Malian judicial system a chance to work before turning to
outside institutions for judgment.

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Comment: Support for Criminalizing Slavery in Mali
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8.(SBU) During discussions with the Embassy about TEMEDT and
slavery, Malian government officials frequently invoke the
Malian constitution - which guarantees individual life and
liberty - as proof that slavery is both illegal and
nonexistent in Mali. One cannot, however, file a criminal
complaint in Mali based on a constitutional clause. While
Mali does have laws criminalizing forced labor, servitude,
bodily harm, kidnapping, and hostage taking, there are no
laws regarding slavery. Since the existence of slavery is
recognized in both Mauritania and Niger, the claim that
slavery somehow skipped over Mali - despite the evident
cultural and social links between Mauritania, Mali and Niger
- is becoming less and less tenable.

9.(SBU) In addition to widespread misperception about the
existence of slavery in Mali, TEMEDT also faces political
obstacles as many Malian Tuaregs believe that anti-slavery
advocates are specifically targeting Tuareg masters. In
previous discussions with Tuareg leaders, we have found it
helpful to stress the fact that slavery in Mali occurs in
many cultures, whether Tuareg, Arab, Peuhl, Songhai, Bambara
or others. This argument seemed to assuage concerns
expressed by the National Assembly's second vice-president,
Assarid ag Imbarcaouane, who is an Imghad Tuareg leader from
Gao, during a July 2008 meeting with the Embassy (Reftel).

10.(SBU) Support from all of Mali's major political parties
is particularly encouraging - although it can be difficult to
disassociate genuine support for the initiative from
political opportunists looking for another stick with which
to prod Tuareg rebels in the north. Either way, it appears
as though TEMEDT has the support needed to at least introduce
a law criminalizing slavery to the National Assembly in 2009.
As a result, TEMEDT is now seeking funding to hold a
workshop in March to complete draft legislation criminalizing
slavery in advance of the National Assembly's April 2009
session and the April 26 local elections.
MILOVANOVIC