VZCZCXRO1203
RR RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHBP #0111/01 0551652
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 241652Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY BAMAKO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0058
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 0578
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE

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. 
 
----------------------------------- 
More Slavery Cases in Northern Mali 
----------------------------------- 
 
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. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Support from Malian Government Officials 
---------------------------------------- 
 
6.(SBU) Ellman told the Embassy that all of the local 
 
BAMAKO 00000111  002 OF 002 
 
 
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. 
 
--------------------------- 
Current Cases Still Stalled 
--------------------------- 
 
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. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
Comment: Support for Criminalizing Slavery in Mali 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
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