SUPER CAPTION
DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
10th of DECEMBER, 1948
Article 1: All human beings are born free
and equal in dignity and rights.
Article 4: No one shall be held in
slavery or servitude;
Slavery and the slave trade shall be
prohibited in all their forms.
SLAVES
Narration
Are there slaves in the 21st century?
The millions of children who are forced to work in the mines
and the factories for a piece of bread.
The illegal immigrants who ended up arriving here,
believing in the promises of the traders for a better future,
are the slaves of the modern world.
One would expect slaves like the ones described in
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" or in history books
about ancient Greece and Rome,
do not exist any more.
Nonetheless,
in the 21st century,
there are still people who are born slaves,
who serve with devotion their master for all their lives,
they are inherited, like a piece of land...
are sold or given as a gift, like objects.
We are in Africa, in the Republic of Niger.
A country of approximately twelve million people,
with an area about half the size of France..
Niamey, the capital, with its seven hundred thousand inhabitants,
is the biggest city in the country.
It is a port and a commercial centre,
as it is built along the river Niger,
the biggest river in west Africa,
which, apart from its name, gives the country
its unique fertile land.
2/3 of the country are covered by the desert
and the Tuaregs are its masters.
The Republic of Niger is the world’s second poorest country.
In addition, it is one of the last countries in the world
that continues the tradition of slavery.
Dr. Badie Hima
Slavery still exists in Niger.
There isn't even one region that’s an exception.
Slavery in Niger...
exists in its classic form...
SUPER CAPTION
Dr. Badie Hima
Sociologist
Dr. Badie Hima (cont)
which means that you, for example...
you have in your house people...
who are not free...
and serve you without payment.
Narration
Conservative estimates suggest there are 8.500 slaves in Niger,
However, some non-governmental organizations
Say the number is closer to 870.000.
It is difficult to calculate the exact number,
firstly because the country lacks resources and infrastructure,
and secondly because, even in Niger, slavery is now illegal.
SUPER CAPTION
The well of Abazoz
Journalist
What's your name?
Ilitini (Nigerian boy)
Ilitni.
Journalist
What are you doing here?
Ilitini (Nigerian boy)
I work
Journalist
Where are you parents?
Ilitini (Nigerian boy)
Over there
Journalist
Your family owns goats or other animals?
Ilitini (Nigerian boy)
I am a slave, my parents are slaves.
We do all the housework...
and we also work with the animals.
Journalist
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Ilitini (Nigerian boy)
A master
Narration
Ilitni and his whole family
serve a master, Yakai, the younger brother of chief Abazoz.
Abazoz is the owner of this well,
and the whole region is named after him.
Chaicha Tupinas is his daughter.
Journalist
Do you know how to cook?
Chaicha Tupinas
If there's nobody to cook for me...
Yes, I know how to cook.
All these people you see here...
help me because I am like a mother to them.
Narration
Wealth in poverty-stricken Niger
means animals, slaves and precious water.
The family of master Abazoz possesses all three
and its members have authority and power over the local community.
They’re members of the Tuareg tribe.
The Tuaregs are nomad farmers and skillful warriors,
who know the Sahara better than anybody else.
Their ancestors controlled the caravan routes,
attacked neighbouring tribes,
and eventually spread all around north and central Africa.
They speak their own ancient language
Tamersheak, a language with an alphabet of 24 letters.
The arrival of the Arabs introduced the Tuaregs to Islam,
however, they preserved their own traditions at the same time.
In their societies it is men, not women, those who cover their faces.
There are two characteristics that distinguish master Yakai
From the other men around the well.
His sword and his colour.
Nigerian man
Not all Tuaregs can afford to have a sword, because it is expensive.
Journalist
Are you all here from the same family?
Nigerian man
We all come from the same area,
we share the same well...
but we come from a different culture.
You can see the difference in our colour.
Narration
The upper cast of the Tuaregs., the Imashagen
consider the members of the darker tribes they conquered as lower.
Besides, their name means the righteous, the free,
and slaves like Birni know this only too well.
Birni
The difference is one is red-skinned...
while the other is black.
The red-skinned thinks very highly of himself...
and considers the black one as something of low importance.
They see them as if they were trees.
Honestly, they treat you very unjustly.
One of them had ordered me killed...
throw me in the well.
Because I didn't take the animals out.
Narration
Many centuries before Birni,
whole generations grew up with slaves,
captured during savage attacks.
The children of the slaves became slaves too.
So by the 21st century,
slavery became a tradition and a habit,
and the ownership of one person by another,
was engraved forever to the heart and soul of the masters,
and the slaves,
It was something customary almost natural.
SUPER CAPTION
Dr. Sanoussi Tambary
Member of the opposition
Dr. Sanoussi Tambary
There are people who live in this country...
who have no idea about what is going on in the city...
or in the rest of the world.
Some people are attached to the old relationship...
between masters and slaves...
It’s more of a cultural problem.
Narration
This is Foum, the mother of Ilitni.
For her whole life, she has seen only the tiny piece of sky
that lies above the well.
Foum
I am one of Yakai's slaves.
I have spent almost all of my life with him.
I've always lived here.
I have never traveled.
My dream is to go away...
to start a new life, far away from here.
In a place where nobody can take my rights away from me.
Journalist
There is a village near.
Why don't you and your family go there?
Foum
This has nothing to do with what I want.
It is a matter of rank.
My master does not accept that I want to get out of here.
Narration
Foum's mother-in-law, who’s also a slave,
has never thought about such things.
The conviction of inferiority, the fear and obedience
are firmly fixed inside her forever.
Since she was born as a child of slaves
she has stoically accepted her fate all her life,
as if it was pre-destined by God.
Foum’s mother-in law
I am used to this life.
This is where I opened my eyes and this is where I stayed.
Journalist
Why haven't you ever tried to escape?
Foum’s mother-in law
This is my home.
I want to die here.
It's here where I opened my eyes, everybody knows me here.
Alasan
You know, everything is a brain-wash.
You know, the slaves...
believe that...
it's their master who will take them to heaven...
and that if they obey...
they will go to heaven.
You can even see strong men...
being beaten by small children or by weaker men...
and they would never dare to hit back...
because they don't believe it is natural.
It is a tough job...
to change people's beliefs, it's very difficult.
Narration
Old-Birni, the slave, makes ropes, which he sells at the market.
Today he lives free in a small village.
It took him almost a life-time to become aware of his situation
and decide to break free.
Old Birni
I was born there...
so I did not have the right to go anywhere.
If I went somewhere, they would hit me.
I just suffered.
My troubles were endless....
I couldn't take it anymore and I left.
Journalist
What do you hope for, what would you want for the future?
Old Birni
In my life, I only need food.
Narration
Birni escaped from his master,
and managed to get away.
So did Halima.
Halima
When someone cannot stand their lives anymore...
they can either die or kill themselves.
When you hear people all the time...
say that you are a wretched slave...
even when you go bring them water...
wouldn't you kill yourself, if you hear that all the time?
This is when I said I will not let myself die like a dog.
This is why I escaped...
and saved myself.
Narration
Halima is happy that she managed to return to her village.
Pregnant, carrying two more infants with her,
she walked miles .. chased through the desert,
trying to flee from the master she hated and feared.
Halima
It's my master who gave them to me.
What hurts me the most...
is that he made me sleep with him.
When you are a slave...
they will never ask you...
if you want to sleep with them.
They just order you to.
My master would hit me...
if I refused to sleep with him.
He hit me when I was trying to resist.
My master is the father of my children.
Journalist
What would be the future of your children...
had you stayed with your master?
What would happen to them?
Halima
They would become slaves.
Wouldn't they?
Alasan
The women are continuously raped by their masters...
because it is a rule of the masters'...
that the female slave is available to her master's wishes.
Always at his disposal.
Whenever he wishes to sleep with her.
They don't have the right to say no, even when they are sick.
And the children that will be born...
they will never be recognised by the masters as theirs.
Halima
When I first came here...
I would wake out of my sleep and I would say...
what's wrong?
What's troubling me?
And then I would realise...
that it was my past that was troubling me.
I will never forget it, until I die...
Journalist
Will you ever tell your children about their father?
Halima
I don't want to talk to them about that.
If I tell them, I will feel very badly.
Now they think...
that their father is my uncle.
Narration
Almou Vadara is the child of a master and a slave,
his concubine.
Almou Vadara
I am the son of a slave.
My mother was my father's slave.
Here, in Niger, they call the slaves, servants.
But they are slaves.
Narration
In Niger, the concubines are called "the fifth wife",
since the Muslims can marry up to four wives.
Alasan
They can have them as a "fifth wife".
In fact, a man can go to the trader and choose a girl...
and he buys her.
So he takes her both for a wife and a slave.
Almou Vadara
The Muslim religion allows a man to have many female servants.
You can have ten female servants.
That’s apart from the women you have married.
The husband differentiates his women.
"This one is a slave, this one not"...
even their clothes are different.
Narration
As a child of a fifth wife, Almou Vadara was born free,
and a prince.
The title is the only thing he inherited from his father.
Without any wealth to prove his noble lineage.
Prince Vadara has devoted his life to the battle against slavery.
Almou Vadara
They are born with a fear...
A fear!
They fear their master completely.
Narration
This is Asibig and her story is like many others.
Her master used her as a pole, to support his tent,
When one of the wooden poles broke.
Asibig
It was a rainy night...
when my master made me hold the tent.
I couldn't live with this humiliation and I decided to run away.
Journalist
Where is your husband?
Asibig
He is with my former master.
I tried so many times to convince him...
to organise our escape...
but he didn't care.
I did insist, but he didn't want to leave.
Then we separated.
I realised that slavery was really planted in his head.
Narration
In june 2004, Asibig took her children and disappeared.
She was 50 years old when she decided to escape.
Asibig
Both my parents were slaves of master Tafan.
They spent all their lives enslaved to him.
Now they are dead.
I was born under these conditions.
I spoke to my parents...
but because we were slaves...
they were only telling me that being a slave means work.
That there was nothing we could do.
Narration
Asibig arrived in a nearby village, desperate.
There, she was in lucky.
At the village there were people from Timidria,
a non-governmental association
that tries to stop slavery in Niger.
Today, Asibig lives free at the village of Tamaya.
Asibig
Since the day I was born...
I never felt happy, until I came here.
Here I can sit, sleep...
wake up whenever I want.
What keeps coming to my mind...
is the people who are chased continuously...
those who are being taken advantage of.
Alasan
We wanted to help these people.
Niger should not be...
the country that has the largest number of slaves in the world.
It is an intolerable injustice...
that we cannot endure.
Narration
Timidria means fraternity,
and Alasan is the secretary general of the association.
The president is currently in prison,
accused by the authorities of spreading false reports.
A false report for the government is any reference to the
existence of slavery in the country.
It is difficult to fight slavery in a country that denies the problem.
The governmental delegate for human rights hides behind words.
Government delegate for human rights
Since the 19th century, here in Niger...
there have not been any chained slaves.
There are no slaves...
that live under horrible conditions.
No! I disagree.
There are people who favour slavery...
who continue to maintain other people...
in their service.
But they support them...
they give them houses...
they give them food, clothes...
they finance their marriages.
Journalists, like you, are made to believe...
that all women and children...
that wear an anklet, are slaves.
Yes, yes, they are slaves...
but this is a gift given to young people...
which is part of our cultural traditions.
Narration
Officially, the government does not admit the existence of slaves,
and they do not like discussing this subject.
In April 2004, they were forced to forbid slavery by passing a law
according to which masters that keep slaves can be condemned
up to 30 years of imprisonment.
The outcome of this decision was the exact opposite of the one expected.
Now the slaves are afraid to say they are slaves,
and the masters hide that they are masters.
Slave Yazim knows what to say if asked.
and so does her master.
Yazim
I carry this water for me.
She is like a friend to me...
who helps me when I have too much work to do.
Dr. Badie Hima
Slavery ties your hands...
feet, mouth.
It is extremely difficult...
to fight...
because slavery...
is found in the darkness...
Narration
Edgaghir Abdulah and Hassan Aihassi are two Tuareg masters
that live at the village Tamaya,
where Asibig found refuge.
They don't like the former slave moving here,
and even less her being free.
To them Timidria is a suspicious association.
Edgaghir Abdulah
They’ve practiced this policy for a long time...
You know, this Weila.
The are taken to the woods, tie their hands...
take photographs, which they send...
to America,
The Americans give them money...
because they think they fight...
for the liberation of the slaves.
But there are no slaves.
There is no slavery in Niger...
there isn't!
Hassan Aihassi
In Niger, there are no slaves.
If you have money and you can pay...
someone to work for you...
this is power.
You know there are black people who have nothing...
not even a dog.
If you have money, you will have someone...
working for you...
so that they are able to provide their food, you see.
This is what the world is like now.
SUPER CAPTION
ALASAN RALIUN
General Secretary TIMIDRIA
Alasan Raliun
You see, the government of Niger...
is "caged"...
I mean it is controlled by certain traditional leaders...
by certain very rich people.
Narration
Prince Kadhi is a very important person in his country,
who often astonishes the ruling class with his revolutionary statements.
Prince Kadhi
In fact, the government believes that if they admit the existence
of slaves in Niger...
they will blemish the image of the country.
In our days...
slavery in Niger is not fiction.
Unfortunately, it is a reality.
Unfortunately, the government avoids talking about it...
even though they accepted to pass a law against it.
Slavery in Niger has become a taboo.
Narration
Prince Kadhi grew up in a big house with many slaves.
His parents taught him his social status, when he was very young.
Prince Kadhi
I knew who was a slave and who not.
They were showing us with their finger who was the slave.
"Him, he is a slave".
They were not treated the same way as us...
we were also wearing different kind of clothing.
Even at the age of 5 years old...
I could make the slave work for me.
Narration
Kadhi went to France for his studies,
and when he return home, several years later,
he had already adopted a different opinion about slavery.
He tried to convince traditional leaders
to free all together the slaves they had,
in public, in a special ceremony.
Everybody refused, so Kadhi decided to act on his own.
It would be a ceremony, where the governor would be present,
designed in such a way to upset the lethargic local society.
Prince Kadhi
The governor...
said in his speech that there are no more slaves.
At this moment we asked the slaves...
to enter the room.
While he was saying that there are no slaves...
they were already in the room.
It was at this moment that we freed...
our slaves in public.
The reporters recorded everything on camera...
which irritated the governor very much.
He ordered the police to confiscate the tapes...
and stop the reporters.
Narration
Kadhi and his father freed the 7 slaves they had in September 2003.
19-year old Abdu Nayusa was among them,
who suddenly stopped being a slave.
He was a free man.
Abdu Nayusa
The papers they gave me...
I couldn't understand what they meant...
until they explained to me...
that these papers meant that I was a free man.
That I could go anywhere I wished.
Narration
Even though he was free, Abdu did not leave,
and he cannot understand exactly what being free means.
He stayed where he was at the house of his master.
Prince Kadhi
I've seen what slavery can
do to a person.
He doesn't know where to go...
because a slave has no family.
He only has one parent, his master.
Abdu Nayusa
People who are born slaves, like me...
even if you separate them from their master...
they will return to him.
While there are other people, who when they realise...
they are slaves, they leave.
Journalist
Do you believe you are free now?
Abdu Nayusa
Yes, I am free.
Now, I am free.
At that moment, I was not happy.
I was afraid to go out, because...
people were calling me a slave.
I could see that other free children...
could do whatever they wanted.
They could go out at any time, they we free.
There was no place I could go to.
I had no friends, I wasn't going anywhere.
Now I have nothing to do...
I don't do anything, I'm just suffering.
I haven't made any progress...
because I don't know what to do.
I don't know what job to do.
Narration
If Abdu leaves, he will have to start looking for a job
in a country that’s plagued by unemployment and famine.
Last year's drought was Niger’s worst in recent years.
Nigerian man
The government did nothing to provide for the people...
We are going to tell you the truth.
There are people who dig up ant nests...
to eat whatever they can find there.
I swear to God...
Niger has many problems.
Narration
Niger's main products are onions and uranium.
The onions are for the locals,
the uranium is exploited by the foreigners.
SUPER CAPTION
Dr. Sanoussi Tambary
Member of the opposition
Dr Sanoussi Tambary
Even our water supply company has become private.
It’s the French company, Vivendi, which was in debt...
that came here to take over our water.
Narration
Niger became independent in 1960.
Until then, it was a French colony.
SUPER CAPTION
Dr. Badie Hima
Sociologist
Dr. Badie Hima
If the African continent is underdeveloped...
this is not because
the African people are incompetent.
There has been a 3-nation slave trade...
that deprived Africa from its vital force.
And on top of that, there followed the colonial occupation...
which certainly took away Africans' rights and freedom.
Narration
The French were succeeded by a string of dictators
who remained in power for decades.
Democracy was established only a few years ago,
And its been difficult to rid people of the practices of the past.
Dr Sanoussi Tambary
The democracy that we have today...
is not a true democracy.
It is a mercantile democracy...
it is a prostituted democracy.
Prince Khabi
During the 40 years of independence...
we've had 5 military governments.
In ten years...
Niger had 22 different governments.
This is where the political instability comes from.
Dr Sanoussi Tambary
Niger is a wasted country.
We have no chance of recovering...
under the current situation.
No chance...
to even try to overcome underdevelopment.
Abdu Nayusa
I would like to start a business in the future.
You know, if god gives you luck...
and you are somewhere...
and this luck will come and find you
Narration
The former slave, Abdu, has put his trust in god and fate.
It’s difficult for someone, to be a slave one day and free the next,
It can be even more difficult to become a member of a society.
Timidria, the association that fights against slavery,
tries with its scarce resources, to help former slaves
stand on their feet.
This field is also a school,
It teaches something very important.
How to count on your own abilities.
Nigerian woman
God bless Timidria.
They have helped reduce illiteracy since they came here.
And they've helped us to carry on...
counting on ourselves.
They gave us tools, seeds...
axes, onions.
To be able to live...
to protect ourselves...
because those who don't have the resources to live...
will become slaves.
Alasan Raliun
This is our prime goal, after they are freed...
we must show them how to live.
Because these people, when they arrive...
they cannot integrate to the community.
They have to learn how to live, to learn activities...
that will allow them to earn an income.
Because in a couple of years they have to be able to...
take care of themselves.
Dr. Badie Hima
The origins of slavery can be found in every society.
In ancient Greece...
there were the free citizens and the slaves.
Each society, through its course of evolution...
according to their needs in labour...
"had to" produce their own slaves.
SUPER CAPTION
At least 12.3 million people today are
under the regime of enforced labour.
Source: United Nations
Dr. Badie Hima
Each society has to work very hard...
to eradicate slavery...
which is a serious violation of human rights.
SUPER CAPTION
The profit of the traders that traffic
women, men and children...
to the civilised west accede to 32 billion dollars.
Source: International Labour Organization
Dr. Badie Hima
A person's behaviour...
that transforms a slave to
an object, a tool...
is attempted murder against humanity.
NIGER – SLAVES
http://exandas.ert.gr
Written, Produced and Directed by: YORGOS AVGEROPOULOS
Producer Manager: ANASTASIA SKOUBRI
Editing Director: DIMITRIS NIKOLOPOULOS
Research Coordinator: APOSTOLIS KAPAROUDAKIS
Research: KOSTAS GEORGIADIS
Director of Photography: YIANNIS AVGEROPOULOS
Editing: DIMITRIS NIKOLOPOULOS, CHRISTOS KOSTAKOPOULOS, MELETIS POGKAS
Fixing: IDI BARAOU
Driver: IBRAHIM WEIGLASSAM
Website Editors: KOSTAS GEORGIADIS, VASILIS KATSARDIS, ELI KRITHARAKI
Translation: IBRAHIM ADOKE YAKUBU, KIMONAS KONTOSIS
Original Music / Mastering by: YIANNIS PAXEVANIS
Musicians:
ARIS AVGERINOS – bass/ percussion
MELETIS POGKAS – guitars
Website construction: ERT Online dept.
Graphics: ONYX
Technical Support: ANDREAS SOULIOS
English Narration: ROBERT MCKENZIE
Sources:
Antislavery Organization
Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
BBC News
International Press Institute (IPI)
Barbara Worley (Anthropologist Boston Univeristy)
Iabolish –the antislavery portal
Special Thanks to AIR FRANCE
A SMALL PLANET PRODUCTION
For NET 2004 - 2005
DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
10th of DECEMBER, 1948
Article 1: All human beings are born free
and equal in dignity and rights.
Article 4: No one shall be held in
slavery or servitude;
Slavery and the slave trade shall be
prohibited in all their forms.
SLAVES
Narration
Are there slaves in the 21st century?
The millions of children who are forced to work in the mines
and the factories for a piece of bread.
The illegal immigrants who ended up arriving here,
believing in the promises of the traders for a better future,
are the slaves of the modern world.
One would expect slaves like the ones described in
"Uncle Tom's Cabin" or in history books
about ancient Greece and Rome,
do not exist any more.
Nonetheless,
in the 21st century,
there are still people who are born slaves,
who serve with devotion their master for all their lives,
they are inherited, like a piece of land...
are sold or given as a gift, like objects.
We are in Africa, in the Republic of Niger.
A country of approximately twelve million people,
with an area about half the size of France..
Niamey, the capital, with its seven hundred thousand inhabitants,
is the biggest city in the country.
It is a port and a commercial centre,
as it is built along the river Niger,
the biggest river in west Africa,
which, apart from its name, gives the country
its unique fertile land.
2/3 of the country are covered by the desert
and the Tuaregs are its masters.
The Republic of Niger is the world’s second poorest country.
In addition, it is one of the last countries in the world
that continues the tradition of slavery.
Dr. Badie Hima
Slavery still exists in Niger.
There isn't even one region that’s an exception.
Slavery in Niger...
exists in its classic form...
SUPER CAPTION
Dr. Badie Hima
Sociologist
Dr. Badie Hima (cont)
which means that you, for example...
you have in your house people...
who are not free...
and serve you without payment.
Narration
Conservative estimates suggest there are 8.500 slaves in Niger,
However, some non-governmental organizations
Say the number is closer to 870.000.
It is difficult to calculate the exact number,
firstly because the country lacks resources and infrastructure,
and secondly because, even in Niger, slavery is now illegal.
SUPER CAPTION
The well of Abazoz
Journalist
What's your name?
Ilitini (Nigerian boy)
Ilitni.
Journalist
What are you doing here?
Ilitini (Nigerian boy)
I work
Journalist
Where are you parents?
Ilitini (Nigerian boy)
Over there
Journalist
Your family owns goats or other animals?
Ilitini (Nigerian boy)
I am a slave, my parents are slaves.
We do all the housework...
and we also work with the animals.
Journalist
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Ilitini (Nigerian boy)
A master
Narration
Ilitni and his whole family
serve a master, Yakai, the younger brother of chief Abazoz.
Abazoz is the owner of this well,
and the whole region is named after him.
Chaicha Tupinas is his daughter.
Journalist
Do you know how to cook?
Chaicha Tupinas
If there's nobody to cook for me...
Yes, I know how to cook.
All these people you see here...
help me because I am like a mother to them.
Narration
Wealth in poverty-stricken Niger
means animals, slaves and precious water.
The family of master Abazoz possesses all three
and its members have authority and power over the local community.
They’re members of the Tuareg tribe.
The Tuaregs are nomad farmers and skillful warriors,
who know the Sahara better than anybody else.
Their ancestors controlled the caravan routes,
attacked neighbouring tribes,
and eventually spread all around north and central Africa.
They speak their own ancient language
Tamersheak, a language with an alphabet of 24 letters.
The arrival of the Arabs introduced the Tuaregs to Islam,
however, they preserved their own traditions at the same time.
In their societies it is men, not women, those who cover their faces.
There are two characteristics that distinguish master Yakai
From the other men around the well.
His sword and his colour.
Nigerian man
Not all Tuaregs can afford to have a sword, because it is expensive.
Journalist
Are you all here from the same family?
Nigerian man
We all come from the same area,
we share the same well...
but we come from a different culture.
You can see the difference in our colour.
Narration
The upper cast of the Tuaregs., the Imashagen
consider the members of the darker tribes they conquered as lower.
Besides, their name means the righteous, the free,
and slaves like Birni know this only too well.
Birni
The difference is one is red-skinned...
while the other is black.
The red-skinned thinks very highly of himself...
and considers the black one as something of low importance.
They see them as if they were trees.
Honestly, they treat you very unjustly.
One of them had ordered me killed...
throw me in the well.
Because I didn't take the animals out.
Narration
Many centuries before Birni,
whole generations grew up with slaves,
captured during savage attacks.
The children of the slaves became slaves too.
So by the 21st century,
slavery became a tradition and a habit,
and the ownership of one person by another,
was engraved forever to the heart and soul of the masters,
and the slaves,
It was something customary almost natural.
SUPER CAPTION
Dr. Sanoussi Tambary
Member of the opposition
Dr. Sanoussi Tambary
There are people who live in this country...
who have no idea about what is going on in the city...
or in the rest of the world.
Some people are attached to the old relationship...
between masters and slaves...
It’s more of a cultural problem.
Narration
This is Foum, the mother of Ilitni.
For her whole life, she has seen only the tiny piece of sky
that lies above the well.
Foum
I am one of Yakai's slaves.
I have spent almost all of my life with him.
I've always lived here.
I have never traveled.
My dream is to go away...
to start a new life, far away from here.
In a place where nobody can take my rights away from me.
Journalist
There is a village near.
Why don't you and your family go there?
Foum
This has nothing to do with what I want.
It is a matter of rank.
My master does not accept that I want to get out of here.
Narration
Foum's mother-in-law, who’s also a slave,
has never thought about such things.
The conviction of inferiority, the fear and obedience
are firmly fixed inside her forever.
Since she was born as a child of slaves
she has stoically accepted her fate all her life,
as if it was pre-destined by God.
Foum’s mother-in law
I am used to this life.
This is where I opened my eyes and this is where I stayed.
Journalist
Why haven't you ever tried to escape?
Foum’s mother-in law
This is my home.
I want to die here.
It's here where I opened my eyes, everybody knows me here.
Alasan
You know, everything is a brain-wash.
You know, the slaves...
believe that...
it's their master who will take them to heaven...
and that if they obey...
they will go to heaven.
You can even see strong men...
being beaten by small children or by weaker men...
and they would never dare to hit back...
because they don't believe it is natural.
It is a tough job...
to change people's beliefs, it's very difficult.
Narration
Old-Birni, the slave, makes ropes, which he sells at the market.
Today he lives free in a small village.
It took him almost a life-time to become aware of his situation
and decide to break free.
Old Birni
I was born there...
so I did not have the right to go anywhere.
If I went somewhere, they would hit me.
I just suffered.
My troubles were endless....
I couldn't take it anymore and I left.
Journalist
What do you hope for, what would you want for the future?
Old Birni
In my life, I only need food.
Narration
Birni escaped from his master,
and managed to get away.
So did Halima.
Halima
When someone cannot stand their lives anymore...
they can either die or kill themselves.
When you hear people all the time...
say that you are a wretched slave...
even when you go bring them water...
wouldn't you kill yourself, if you hear that all the time?
This is when I said I will not let myself die like a dog.
This is why I escaped...
and saved myself.
Narration
Halima is happy that she managed to return to her village.
Pregnant, carrying two more infants with her,
she walked miles .. chased through the desert,
trying to flee from the master she hated and feared.
Halima
It's my master who gave them to me.
What hurts me the most...
is that he made me sleep with him.
When you are a slave...
they will never ask you...
if you want to sleep with them.
They just order you to.
My master would hit me...
if I refused to sleep with him.
He hit me when I was trying to resist.
My master is the father of my children.
Journalist
What would be the future of your children...
had you stayed with your master?
What would happen to them?
Halima
They would become slaves.
Wouldn't they?
Alasan
The women are continuously raped by their masters...
because it is a rule of the masters'...
that the female slave is available to her master's wishes.
Always at his disposal.
Whenever he wishes to sleep with her.
They don't have the right to say no, even when they are sick.
And the children that will be born...
they will never be recognised by the masters as theirs.
Halima
When I first came here...
I would wake out of my sleep and I would say...
what's wrong?
What's troubling me?
And then I would realise...
that it was my past that was troubling me.
I will never forget it, until I die...
Journalist
Will you ever tell your children about their father?
Halima
I don't want to talk to them about that.
If I tell them, I will feel very badly.
Now they think...
that their father is my uncle.
Narration
Almou Vadara is the child of a master and a slave,
his concubine.
Almou Vadara
I am the son of a slave.
My mother was my father's slave.
Here, in Niger, they call the slaves, servants.
But they are slaves.
Narration
In Niger, the concubines are called "the fifth wife",
since the Muslims can marry up to four wives.
Alasan
They can have them as a "fifth wife".
In fact, a man can go to the trader and choose a girl...
and he buys her.
So he takes her both for a wife and a slave.
Almou Vadara
The Muslim religion allows a man to have many female servants.
You can have ten female servants.
That’s apart from the women you have married.
The husband differentiates his women.
"This one is a slave, this one not"...
even their clothes are different.
Narration
As a child of a fifth wife, Almou Vadara was born free,
and a prince.
The title is the only thing he inherited from his father.
Without any wealth to prove his noble lineage.
Prince Vadara has devoted his life to the battle against slavery.
Almou Vadara
They are born with a fear...
A fear!
They fear their master completely.
Narration
This is Asibig and her story is like many others.
Her master used her as a pole, to support his tent,
When one of the wooden poles broke.
Asibig
It was a rainy night...
when my master made me hold the tent.
I couldn't live with this humiliation and I decided to run away.
Journalist
Where is your husband?
Asibig
He is with my former master.
I tried so many times to convince him...
to organise our escape...
but he didn't care.
I did insist, but he didn't want to leave.
Then we separated.
I realised that slavery was really planted in his head.
Narration
In june 2004, Asibig took her children and disappeared.
She was 50 years old when she decided to escape.
Asibig
Both my parents were slaves of master Tafan.
They spent all their lives enslaved to him.
Now they are dead.
I was born under these conditions.
I spoke to my parents...
but because we were slaves...
they were only telling me that being a slave means work.
That there was nothing we could do.
Narration
Asibig arrived in a nearby village, desperate.
There, she was in lucky.
At the village there were people from Timidria,
a non-governmental association
that tries to stop slavery in Niger.
Today, Asibig lives free at the village of Tamaya.
Asibig
Since the day I was born...
I never felt happy, until I came here.
Here I can sit, sleep...
wake up whenever I want.
What keeps coming to my mind...
is the people who are chased continuously...
those who are being taken advantage of.
Alasan
We wanted to help these people.
Niger should not be...
the country that has the largest number of slaves in the world.
It is an intolerable injustice...
that we cannot endure.
Narration
Timidria means fraternity,
and Alasan is the secretary general of the association.
The president is currently in prison,
accused by the authorities of spreading false reports.
A false report for the government is any reference to the
existence of slavery in the country.
It is difficult to fight slavery in a country that denies the problem.
The governmental delegate for human rights hides behind words.
Government delegate for human rights
Since the 19th century, here in Niger...
there have not been any chained slaves.
There are no slaves...
that live under horrible conditions.
No! I disagree.
There are people who favour slavery...
who continue to maintain other people...
in their service.
But they support them...
they give them houses...
they give them food, clothes...
they finance their marriages.
Journalists, like you, are made to believe...
that all women and children...
that wear an anklet, are slaves.
Yes, yes, they are slaves...
but this is a gift given to young people...
which is part of our cultural traditions.
Narration
Officially, the government does not admit the existence of slaves,
and they do not like discussing this subject.
In April 2004, they were forced to forbid slavery by passing a law
according to which masters that keep slaves can be condemned
up to 30 years of imprisonment.
The outcome of this decision was the exact opposite of the one expected.
Now the slaves are afraid to say they are slaves,
and the masters hide that they are masters.
Slave Yazim knows what to say if asked.
and so does her master.
Yazim
I carry this water for me.
She is like a friend to me...
who helps me when I have too much work to do.
Dr. Badie Hima
Slavery ties your hands...
feet, mouth.
It is extremely difficult...
to fight...
because slavery...
is found in the darkness...
Narration
Edgaghir Abdulah and Hassan Aihassi are two Tuareg masters
that live at the village Tamaya,
where Asibig found refuge.
They don't like the former slave moving here,
and even less her being free.
To them Timidria is a suspicious association.
Edgaghir Abdulah
They’ve practiced this policy for a long time...
You know, this Weila.
The are taken to the woods, tie their hands...
take photographs, which they send...
to America,
The Americans give them money...
because they think they fight...
for the liberation of the slaves.
But there are no slaves.
There is no slavery in Niger...
there isn't!
Hassan Aihassi
In Niger, there are no slaves.
If you have money and you can pay...
someone to work for you...
this is power.
You know there are black people who have nothing...
not even a dog.
If you have money, you will have someone...
working for you...
so that they are able to provide their food, you see.
This is what the world is like now.
SUPER CAPTION
ALASAN RALIUN
General Secretary TIMIDRIA
Alasan Raliun
You see, the government of Niger...
is "caged"...
I mean it is controlled by certain traditional leaders...
by certain very rich people.
Narration
Prince Kadhi is a very important person in his country,
who often astonishes the ruling class with his revolutionary statements.
Prince Kadhi
In fact, the government believes that if they admit the existence
of slaves in Niger...
they will blemish the image of the country.
In our days...
slavery in Niger is not fiction.
Unfortunately, it is a reality.
Unfortunately, the government avoids talking about it...
even though they accepted to pass a law against it.
Slavery in Niger has become a taboo.
Narration
Prince Kadhi grew up in a big house with many slaves.
His parents taught him his social status, when he was very young.
Prince Kadhi
I knew who was a slave and who not.
They were showing us with their finger who was the slave.
"Him, he is a slave".
They were not treated the same way as us...
we were also wearing different kind of clothing.
Even at the age of 5 years old...
I could make the slave work for me.
Narration
Kadhi went to France for his studies,
and when he return home, several years later,
he had already adopted a different opinion about slavery.
He tried to convince traditional leaders
to free all together the slaves they had,
in public, in a special ceremony.
Everybody refused, so Kadhi decided to act on his own.
It would be a ceremony, where the governor would be present,
designed in such a way to upset the lethargic local society.
Prince Kadhi
The governor...
said in his speech that there are no more slaves.
At this moment we asked the slaves...
to enter the room.
While he was saying that there are no slaves...
they were already in the room.
It was at this moment that we freed...
our slaves in public.
The reporters recorded everything on camera...
which irritated the governor very much.
He ordered the police to confiscate the tapes...
and stop the reporters.
Narration
Kadhi and his father freed the 7 slaves they had in September 2003.
19-year old Abdu Nayusa was among them,
who suddenly stopped being a slave.
He was a free man.
Abdu Nayusa
The papers they gave me...
I couldn't understand what they meant...
until they explained to me...
that these papers meant that I was a free man.
That I could go anywhere I wished.
Narration
Even though he was free, Abdu did not leave,
and he cannot understand exactly what being free means.
He stayed where he was at the house of his master.
Prince Kadhi
I've seen what slavery can
do to a person.
He doesn't know where to go...
because a slave has no family.
He only has one parent, his master.
Abdu Nayusa
People who are born slaves, like me...
even if you separate them from their master...
they will return to him.
While there are other people, who when they realise...
they are slaves, they leave.
Journalist
Do you believe you are free now?
Abdu Nayusa
Yes, I am free.
Now, I am free.
At that moment, I was not happy.
I was afraid to go out, because...
people were calling me a slave.
I could see that other free children...
could do whatever they wanted.
They could go out at any time, they we free.
There was no place I could go to.
I had no friends, I wasn't going anywhere.
Now I have nothing to do...
I don't do anything, I'm just suffering.
I haven't made any progress...
because I don't know what to do.
I don't know what job to do.
Narration
If Abdu leaves, he will have to start looking for a job
in a country that’s plagued by unemployment and famine.
Last year's drought was Niger’s worst in recent years.
Nigerian man
The government did nothing to provide for the people...
We are going to tell you the truth.
There are people who dig up ant nests...
to eat whatever they can find there.
I swear to God...
Niger has many problems.
Narration
Niger's main products are onions and uranium.
The onions are for the locals,
the uranium is exploited by the foreigners.
SUPER CAPTION
Dr. Sanoussi Tambary
Member of the opposition
Dr Sanoussi Tambary
Even our water supply company has become private.
It’s the French company, Vivendi, which was in debt...
that came here to take over our water.
Narration
Niger became independent in 1960.
Until then, it was a French colony.
SUPER CAPTION
Dr. Badie Hima
Sociologist
Dr. Badie Hima
If the African continent is underdeveloped...
this is not because
the African people are incompetent.
There has been a 3-nation slave trade...
that deprived Africa from its vital force.
And on top of that, there followed the colonial occupation...
which certainly took away Africans' rights and freedom.
Narration
The French were succeeded by a string of dictators
who remained in power for decades.
Democracy was established only a few years ago,
And its been difficult to rid people of the practices of the past.
Dr Sanoussi Tambary
The democracy that we have today...
is not a true democracy.
It is a mercantile democracy...
it is a prostituted democracy.
Prince Khabi
During the 40 years of independence...
we've had 5 military governments.
In ten years...
Niger had 22 different governments.
This is where the political instability comes from.
Dr Sanoussi Tambary
Niger is a wasted country.
We have no chance of recovering...
under the current situation.
No chance...
to even try to overcome underdevelopment.
Abdu Nayusa
I would like to start a business in the future.
You know, if god gives you luck...
and you are somewhere...
and this luck will come and find you
Narration
The former slave, Abdu, has put his trust in god and fate.
It’s difficult for someone, to be a slave one day and free the next,
It can be even more difficult to become a member of a society.
Timidria, the association that fights against slavery,
tries with its scarce resources, to help former slaves
stand on their feet.
This field is also a school,
It teaches something very important.
How to count on your own abilities.
Nigerian woman
God bless Timidria.
They have helped reduce illiteracy since they came here.
And they've helped us to carry on...
counting on ourselves.
They gave us tools, seeds...
axes, onions.
To be able to live...
to protect ourselves...
because those who don't have the resources to live...
will become slaves.
Alasan Raliun
This is our prime goal, after they are freed...
we must show them how to live.
Because these people, when they arrive...
they cannot integrate to the community.
They have to learn how to live, to learn activities...
that will allow them to earn an income.
Because in a couple of years they have to be able to...
take care of themselves.
Dr. Badie Hima
The origins of slavery can be found in every society.
In ancient Greece...
there were the free citizens and the slaves.
Each society, through its course of evolution...
according to their needs in labour...
"had to" produce their own slaves.
SUPER CAPTION
At least 12.3 million people today are
under the regime of enforced labour.
Source: United Nations
Dr. Badie Hima
Each society has to work very hard...
to eradicate slavery...
which is a serious violation of human rights.
SUPER CAPTION
The profit of the traders that traffic
women, men and children...
to the civilised west accede to 32 billion dollars.
Source: International Labour Organization
Dr. Badie Hima
A person's behaviour...
that transforms a slave to
an object, a tool...
is attempted murder against humanity.
NIGER – SLAVES
http://exandas.ert.gr
Written, Produced and Directed by: YORGOS AVGEROPOULOS
Producer Manager: ANASTASIA SKOUBRI
Editing Director: DIMITRIS NIKOLOPOULOS
Research Coordinator: APOSTOLIS KAPAROUDAKIS
Research: KOSTAS GEORGIADIS
Director of Photography: YIANNIS AVGEROPOULOS
Editing: DIMITRIS NIKOLOPOULOS, CHRISTOS KOSTAKOPOULOS, MELETIS POGKAS
Fixing: IDI BARAOU
Driver: IBRAHIM WEIGLASSAM
Website Editors: KOSTAS GEORGIADIS, VASILIS KATSARDIS, ELI KRITHARAKI
Translation: IBRAHIM ADOKE YAKUBU, KIMONAS KONTOSIS
Original Music / Mastering by: YIANNIS PAXEVANIS
Musicians:
ARIS AVGERINOS – bass/ percussion
MELETIS POGKAS – guitars
Website construction: ERT Online dept.
Graphics: ONYX
Technical Support: ANDREAS SOULIOS
English Narration: ROBERT MCKENZIE
Sources:
Antislavery Organization
Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
BBC News
International Press Institute (IPI)
Barbara Worley (Anthropologist Boston Univeristy)
Iabolish –the antislavery portal
Special Thanks to AIR FRANCE
A SMALL PLANET PRODUCTION
For NET 2004 - 2005