Senegal: day of virtual commemoration of the law on the traffic in blacks and slavery

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It has been ten years since the Senegalese National Assembly declared the trafficking of blacks and slavery crimes against humanity. Senegal was the first country on the continent to do so and remains the only one to date. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Mémoires et Partages association, based in Bordeaux, France and Dakar, organized this Monday, April 27, a virtual commemoration day, on Facebook, so as not to forget this page. 'history, with contributions from intellectuals, activists and artists.

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With our correspondent in Dakar , Charlotte Idrac

It is a duty of memory, which echoes April 27, 1848, the date of the decree abolishing slavery in the French colonies on the initiative of Victor Schoelcher.

In Senegal, the commemoration was to take place this Monday, April 27, at the town hall of Dakar, but in the context of the pandemic it is impossible.

However, for Karfa Sira Diallo, president of the Memories and Sharing Association, we must continue to raise awareness, even if it lacks the involvement of the authorities.

“  Senegal voted for this law in 2010. It was the 50th anniversary of its independence. Then, former president Abdoulaye Wade wanted to pass his monument to the African Renaissance. However, the Senegalese state is almost absent from this commemoration. Macky Sall doesn't seem to be genuinely interested in these memory issues. Moreover, this Covid pandemic awakens, once again, the memory of one of the consequences of slavery  :  trafficking. We remember all the controversies that there were around the tests that must be done on Africans. The question of racism is a question which is unfortunately permanent. So, more than ever, we must celebrate those whose sacrifice has enabled us to be still there and to hope for better societies  , ”he underlined.

It is also an opportunity to advocate for the trafficking of blacks and slavery to be declared crimes against humanity in other African countries. In France, a day of remembrance of slavery and its abolition is commemorated on May 10.

► Read also: Senegal: first national day to commemorate slavery

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• Senegal
• Slavery