April 1999
We look at Sudan, one of the most notorious slave states. Here slavery is widely used as a weapon of war by the Muslim north against the Christian and animist south.
In the ruins of a burnt-out village, lie the heaped, rotting bodies of slaves who tried to escape the northern raiders who stalk the southern Sudan. Slaving here has killed thousands of people; the survivors have horrific tales to tell. Matihiane and her children were captured a year ago. They were marched for 10 days, given food mixed with sand and urine, beaten if they slowed and sent to work. On arriving with her new master, he forcibly circumcised her. Such inhumanity has led many to come to the aid of the southern Sudanese. Baroness Cox, is the most controversial. Sitting with the slavers in the shade of a tree, she exchanges greetings and begins to barter for the human booty. Today, $325,000 changes hands for the freedom of 325 slaves. While her solution offers immediate salvation for the few, it could also be responsible for the rising number of slave raids. The UN and other humanitarian agencies will not work with her. She though is adamant; "It would go on whether we were here or not...it isn't going to change the war." Even for the slaves she frees though, liberty comes with no guarantees. The only thing that can buy their peace of mind is an end to the war.
Tags: Slavery Sudan trading Darfur Muslim Christians exploit Journeyman Pictures
