THE COURT FOUND NIGER IN BREACH OF ITS POSITIVE OBLIGATIONS TO PROTECT ITS CITIZENS FROM SLAVERY, WHICH IN THIS CASE INVOLVED SEXUAL SLAVERY, AND ORDERED THE STATE TO PAY 10 MILLION CAF (APPROX. USD 23,100)

Judges: Ms. Aminata Malle Sanogo, (president), Ms. Awa Daboya Nana, Mr. El Mansour Tall

In the case Hadijatou Mani Koraou v. The Republic of Niger, issued on October 27, 2008, ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) Community Court of Justice found Niger liable for slavery.

This is the case of a woman who, in 1996, was sold to the tribe chief when she was 12 years old following the practice of "Wahiya", consisting of acquiring a young girl, generally a slave, to work as a servant as well as a concubine. She was at her master's service and he could at any time of day or night have sexual relations with her. He raped her before she was 13 years old. For about 9 years, the woman was a servant and did all sorts of housework and served as a concubine. Four children were born out of relations with her master, two of whom survived.

On August 18, 2005, her master gave her a liberation certificate from slavery. She decided to leave the house but he refused, saying that she was and remained his wife. Under the pretext of visiting her ill mother, she escaped and never went back.

In February of 2006, the applicant brought a complaint before the civil and customary tribunal, to have her desire to be totally free and live her life elsewhere recognized. The tribunal granted her request finding that she was never properly married to her master. He appealed before the Court of First Instance and won. The applicant took her case to the Judicial Chamber of the Supreme Court of Niamey and requested application of the law against slavery and slavery-like practices. The Court reversed the previous judgement on formal grounds.

After finding that the applicant had married, her former master filed a criminal complaint against her for bigamy and she and her brother were arrested. She appealed and filed a complaint against her former master for slavery. She filed a petition before ECOWAS Community Court of Justice.

The Court found that Niger was not responsible for the discrimination she was subjected to by a non-State actor, namely her former master.

The Court found that the applicant was held in slavery for nearly nine years in violation of her rights and that the elimination of slavery is a mandate to all States, therefore she was entitled to protection by the Nigerien authorities. The Court found Niger responsible under international as well as national law for any form of human rights violations founded on slavery because of its tolerance, passivity, inaction, and abstention with regard to the practice and orders Niger to pay reparations in the amount of 10 million CFA francs (approx. USD 23,100)