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A group of people celebrating Mali’s Independence Day were brutally attacked, bound hand and foot and publicly humiliated in the western Malian region of Kayes on September 28. The attack reveals the ongoing impacts of “descent-based slavery”, a form of discrimination that has persisted in the West African country, long after forced labour and servitude were abolished.
Videos shared online show a harrowing sequence of events: What began as merriment and dancing degraded into a bloody scene of humiliation as a group of people who consider themselves “nobles” attacked an Independence Day party held by people in the so-called “slave” class.
The attack took place on September 28 in the village of Souroubiré, in western Mali, where traditional social castes are still the norm. Slavery was banned in Mali in 1905, but the descendants of former slaves are still labelled as such, with children inheriting “slave” status from their mothers.
Those in the slave caste are regularly deprived of rights and humiliated, and during festivals are sometimes expected to slaughter animals and cook for the nobles. The ones who fight back against the slave designation are regularly the target of violent attacks. This is what happened in Souroubiré, when members of an anti-slavery association, the Association Against Domination and Slavery (ACDE), gathered to hold an Independence Day celebration.
Due to the graphic nature of these videos, we have decided only to publish screenshots.
>> Watch our report on descent-based slavery in Mali from 2019:
‘The nobles started…
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Source : france24
