From: Lee Corbin (lcorbin@tsoft.com)
Date: Sun Oct 27 2002 - 00:28:41 MDT
The book I described earlier this month, Tales of the Equator
http://www.extropy.org/exi-lists/extropians/2290.html , also
has a riviting chapter on the efforts of English and Egyptian
authorities to eliminate slavery in the Sudan in the late
19th century.
Here is a paragraph from the book. Contrast it with the
report below of what's happening one hundred and twenty-
nine years later in the same place!
"Chapter 15: The Calamities of Equatoria
"In 1873, when Sir Samuel Baker [quite the amazing adventurer!]
left the court of the khedive Ismail [ruler of Egypt], covered
with great honors and pocketing the considerable sum of 40,000
pounds sterling, he sailed from the port of Alexandria back to
England, feeling pretty pleased with the work he had done, and
certain that he had dealt a mortal blow to the slave trade in
the Egyptian Sudan. Things were quire different in reality.
According to numerous witnesses, the effects of that sudden
crusade against slavery, the foundation of the Sudanese economy,
were much worse than the evil the crusade had been meant to cure.
"First of all, the Koran continued to sanction the right to own
slaves, and to the ears of any good Muslim, the abolition of
slavery sounded like heresy. Moreover, none of those who had
made small fortunes out of the slave trade were willing to give
up a chance to add to those fortunes, and certainly not in the
name of some abstract principle imposed by European infidels,
in glaring contrast with profound religious convictions and ways
of life that stretched back for centuries.
"The slave trade was not likely to vanish all at once, and indeed
it did not vanish at all: it only went into hiding, abandoning the
easier and more convenient water routes that had been used until
then with the approval and participation of the Egyptian authorities.
The trade found new routes to use.
"From Khartoum, where boats loaded with "black ivory" no longer
descended the Nile, European consuls wrote back to their capitals
that the traffic had been stopped. In truth, when river transport
was eliminated, the torments of black Africans captured by slavers
became much, much worse. Previously, some 10 percent of the human
merchandise crammed into the holds of the slave ships---deprived of
water or air---had died. Now the death rate climbed to 30 percent,
and in some cases 50 percent, as the captives were obliged to march
for hundreds of miles, leaving the Nile behind and heading for
Kordofan, across the Sahara Desert, and finally reaching distant
Tripoli, where they were sold into slavery.
"The slavers cared little about the dizzying increases in losses
because one the slave trade became illegal prices for slaves
increased more than tenfold. The lot of the surviving slave
improved with his or her sale; the precepts of the Koran ensured
that slaves were treated win a reasonably humane manner in Islamic
countries, like a sort of second-class family member with some
limited rights. The horrors described in Uncle Tom's Cabin were
specialties of Christian masters.
Well! From this we see many interesting things that
complicate any simple picture: (1) the Koran endorses
slavery, but on the other hand makes the life of a
slave not so bad as in other traditions. (2) you just
can't fight deep tendencies---economic and cultural---
with surface "solutions" imposed
from the outside, because since you haven't the power
to address the underlying forces, your "solutions"
often just make things worse, despite the temporary
self-righteousness you derive. (3) Check out the
article here and note that 2002-1873 = 129 years later
things haven't improved as much as one might think:
An account of slavery in "modern" Sudan:, from
http://www.africana.com/DailyArticles/index_20000925.htm
"The team went first to Kenya and then traveled by road to locations in southern Sudan, where thousands of slaves labor in
captivity. According to Williams, the mostly Arab Islamic government in the north of the country has declared a "Jihad" on the
southern Sudanese, who are darker-skinned and predominantly Christian or adherents of traditional African religions. Williams and
his counterparts used a network of concerned southern Sudanese and Arab retrievers to purchase the slaves for $33 per person.
"However, much to Williams' dismay, most of the former slaves did not show much excitement after they were freed. He attributed
their lack of enthusiasm to the ever-present uncertainty and dependency they have faced in their lives. Some of the rescued thought
they had only been resold to new masters, while others remained skeptical about their fate or the validity of their newly purchased
freedom. According to CSI, while slaves are in bondage their masters routinely beat them, cut off their fingers and other body parts
as forms of punishment, and rape the women and young girls."
Amazing.
Lee
P.S. Here's a nice article from Pravda, of all places, on slavery:
http://english.pravda.ru/main/2001/08/06/11890.html
18:31 2001-08-06
PRESENT-DAY SLAVERY. SLAVER CONVICTED, SLAVES’ WHEREABOUTS STILL UNKNOWN
Mr. Suleimanov, resident of the Republic of Daghestan (Russia’s administrative district in North Caucasus), has been indicted in the
city of Zlatoust, Chelyabinsk Region. His crime is being qualified by the articles of “kidnapping” and “fraud” of the Russian
Federation’s Criminal Code. Unfortunately, the victim was missing in the court room…
In March 2000, a certain Mr. S., driver with one of Zlatoust transportation companies, set out to the city of Volgograd for a
business trip in a KamAZ truck. The automobile was ordered for cargo transportation by Mr. Suleimanov. In April 2000, an application
was lodged with the Zlatoust city police saying that Mr. Suleimanov disappeared. The investigators found that Mr. Suleimanov
deceived Mr. S. and talked him into travelling to Daghestan, according to the Vyorsty newspaper. There, Mr. Suleimanov got hold of a
truck, while Mr. S. was sold into slavery.
Criminal proceedings were launched on June 22nd, 2000. Mr. Suleimanove was searched for and finally detained on the Daghestani
territory. The court found him guilty and sentenced him to 15 years in prison, his property being confiscated. In the meantime, the
whereabouts of the victim have not been pinpointed so far.
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