Slavery nowadays

Pablo Fernndez-Alonso Araluce

1. What is slavery?
Slavery is a system under which certain people can be sold and bought as property. That person is thereby owned by another, considered as a property and deprived of the rights held by free people. A slave can become a slave either for its origin, its birth or its race.

2. History of slavery
Slavery is as old as human condition. We have the earliest evidences of slavery in the Lower Egypt about 8000 BC. Mass slavery was rare among hunter populations because it requires economic surpluses and high density population. So it started to proliferate in the Neolithic Revolution with the institution of the first organized civilizations. In the Code of Hammurabi one of the oldest deciphered long writings of the world- it is prescribed death for anyone who helped a slave to escape. The Holiness Code of Leviticus explicitly allows participation in the slave trade: , ; , - . - , , : , -- . , , , . , ; 43 Thou shalt not rule over him with rigour; but shalt fear thy God. 44 And as for thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, whom thou mayest have: of the nations that are round about you, of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. 45 Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them may ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they have begotten in your land; and they may be your possession. 46 And ye may make them an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession: of them may ye take your bondmen for ever; but over your brethren the children of Israel ye shall not rule, one over another, with rigour. 1
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We have also some records of slavery in Ancient Greece where slavery was regarded as something normal. In fact Greeks created the system of democracy, a system under which our Spanish Constitution was created; this is the document we will later use to
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Leviticus 25:44-46. Mechon-Mamre. Retrieved 7 November 2013, from http://www.mechonmamre.org/p/pt/pt0325.htm

analyze whether this system is valid or not regarding the law. In Greece, as I was saying, they had the largest slave population with 80,000 people in the 6th and 5th centuries BC 2. Also in the Roman Republic, slavery had its own status included in the Roman Codex of Law. As their domain expanded they enslaved entire populations for work, amusement and sex divertissement. To include them in the law supposed also the recognition of some rights or at least had some ways to escape from his subjugated state. The definition appears to regard subjection to a dominus as the essential fact in slavery. It is easy to show that this conception of slavery is inaccurate, since Roman Law at various times recognized types of slaves without owners. Such were: (a) The slave abandoned by his owner. He was a res nullius. He could be acquired by usucapio, and freed by his new owner. (b) Servi Poenae. Till Justinian's changes, convicts or some types of then] were servi: they were strictly sine domino; neither Populi nor Caesaris. (c) Slaves manumitted by their owner while some other person had a right in them. (d) A freeman who allowed a usufruct of himself to be given by a fraudulent vendor to an innocent buyer. He was a servus sine domino while the usufruct lasted. 3 The chaos following the barbarian invasions of the Roman Empire made the taking of slaves habitual throughout Europe in the early Middle Ages. We can find rules regarding this slave status also in the Visigothic Code during their domain over the Iberian Peninsula. More examples can be found in the Anglo-Saxon and Viking praxis. In a way or another slavery played an important role in the economy of societies and so it was regulated regarding these people as goods in Commercial law. From now on slavery will be not only a part of the law but the estate of the past. When something is written in the past its because it is part of the history and of the nature itself. Science has developed throughout the history and even today we keep discovering processes and healings for all sorts of diseases. But it has a dark side and pseudoscientific disseminators have the ability to manipulate and create data in this fictitious side of science to feature black people as inferior in the social scale. We can take for example this paper published by Dr. James Hunt, cofounder of the Anthropological Society of London: I propose in this communication to discuss the physical and mental characters of the Negro, with a view of determining not only his position in animated nature
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Slavery in Ancient Greece 2013. Britannica Online for Kids. Retrieved 7 November 2013, from http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article-201729/ancient-Greece 3 W. W. Buckland, M. A. The Roman Law of Slavery. Cambridge: At the University Press, 1908, p. 2.

but also the station he should occupy in the genus Homo. I shall necessarily have to go over a wide field and cannot hope to treat the subject in an exhaustive manner. I shall be amply satisfied if I succeed in directing the attention of my scientific friends to a study of this most important and hitherto nearly neglected branch of study in the great science of Anthropology. It is not a little remarkable that the subject I propose to bring before you this evening is one which has never been discussed before a scientific audience in this Metropolis. In France in America and in Germany the physical and mental characters of the Negro have been frequently discussed and England alone has neglected to pay that attention to the question which its importance demands I shall therefore not apologize to you for bringing this subject in its entirety under your consideration although I should have preferred discussing each point in detail I hope however this evening to lay before you facts and opinions that will make a good foundation for future inquiry and discussion Although I shall dwell chiefly on the physical mental and moral characters of the Negro, I shall, at the same time, not hesitate to make such practical deductions which appear to be warranted form the facts we now have at hand, and trust that a fair and open discussion of this subject may eventually be the means of removing much of the misconception which appears to prevail on this subject both in the minds of the public, and too frequently in the minds of scientific men. 4 This was published back in the XIX but sadly we have other references to supremacy of races or inferiority of others backed by part of the scientific opinion. From the studies in craniometry by Samuel George Morton that studied the David of Michel Angelo as a model of man and equated the crane of the chimpanzee with that of the indigenous races, to Dr Samuel Cartwright in the US that justified Black African slavery because of their primitive psychological organization 5 to the Jewish Holocaust through Apartheid. Slavery in the XVIII onwards was related to the denial of privileges of a whole group regarding their damaged nature. The abolition of slavery was carried out gradually. June 960, Venice: Pietro IV Candiano, the Doge gathered the popular assembly and prohibited slave trade. Later on 1102 St. Anselm of Canterbury convened a council of the church in England where slave trade was also condemned. Louis X, king of France publishes a decree on 1315 proclaiming that France signifies freedom and that any slave setting foot on the French ground should be freed. Pope Eugene IV writes Sicut Dudum on 1435 banning enslavement on pain of excommunication and Pope Paul III vindicates this decision a century later with the Encyclical Sublimus Dei, specifically of the indigenous peoples of America. In 1542 Spain becomes the first country to abolish slavery. From 1770 to 1808 slavery is gradually banned in the United States and Abraham Lincoln signs in

Dr. James Hunt, F. R. S. The Negros Place In Nature: A Paper Read Before The London Anthropological Society. New York: Van Evrie, Horton & Co., 1864, p. 5. 5 Thomas, Alexander and Sillen, Samuel. Racism and Psichiatry. New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1972.

1863 the Emancipation Proclamation which declared slaves in confederate-controlled areas to be freed ratified by the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution.

3. Whether slavery is legal or not

It took centuries for our society to realize that the practice of slavery or any kind of denial of the human dignity no matter the color of the skin, the country of origin, the language spoken, the history inherited, the ideas held, the honest civil motifs supported, the style of living carried out, the mindset or the negation of any classification above was abominable. Here were going to focus just on slavery within a specific frame: the Spanish Constitution. Section 10 in the document mentioned says that Provisions relating to the fundamental rights and liberties recognized by the Constitution shall be construed in conformity with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international treaties and agreements thereon ratified by Spain. 6 So let us see what the Declaration says. This point is crucial in the development of the paper here presented. In the research and interpretation of a universal and therefore, fully accepted- document lays the answer to the question raised in the start of this section: whether all people, even slaves, are considered human and thereby deserve the protection of the rights listed in the Declaration. Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. 7 The first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights clears the doubts and begins a path followed explicitly by the Spanish Constitution. This Article is the definition of human being, of all of them: those who are born and because they are being born, are free and equal in dignity and rights with each other. I can finish here my investigation on the legality of slavery and give a definitive statement. But before that I would like to present some arguments pro slavery. We have to bear in mind that those arguments have a background depending the specific era and the social acceptance. First, I started this section going centuries further than developed cultures of all the times. Most of the people that we think now as the promoters of Occidental thinking lived peacefully with the premise of freedom and equality broken. Of course most of them accepted to be equated to the others, but none of them could think of slaves as one of them, as someone to be compared with.

Spanish Constitution. Spain: 1978, Part I: Fundamental Rights and Duties, Preliminary Title, Section 10.2. 7 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 1948, Article 1.

For centuries in history slaves were a part in the functioning of the system of a country. People were born and its a matter of destiny or luck whether you fall in the side of the citizens or in the side of the slaves. One was born and depending where and how that being was or not human. When William Wilberforce claimed for the abolition o slave trade in Great Britain he found a fierce opposition in the House of Lords because that trade was in fact a basis of the economic system of the country. Utilitarianism might be a valid doctrine in some perceptions of economy or sociology, but when it is about an infringement of dignity it cannot be regarded as a possible solution to act and less in a mass organized system-. The premise the greatest happiness of the greatest number is ethically incorrect in many ways, and applying the law in this point it turns to be nonsensical. I therefore found the First Article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights valid and of sufficient substance to result the abolition of all forms of slavery and denigration of dignity and identity of every person. But we can make it even clearer by reading the Section 15 of our Constitution: Everyone has the right to life and to physical and moral integrity, and under no circumstances may be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment. Death penalty is hereby abolished, except as provided for by military criminal law in times of war. 8

4. Slavery nowadays

Spanish Constitution. Spain: 1978, Part I: Fundamental Rights and Duties, Chapter 2: Rights and Freedoms, Division I: Fundamental Rights and Public Freedoms, Section 15.

Before talking about the descendants of the slaves I would like to talk that of the slavery nowadays. We will find out later if descendants need compensations or not, but lets see now how is slavery present on these days in the global map. 9 Every country should regulate on this specific crime thats still present in modern times. According to The Walk Foundation there are 29.8 million people in modern slavery globally. According to the Index, the prevalence of modern slavery is highest in Mauritania, Haiti, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Moldova, Benin, Cote dIvoire, The Gambia and Gabon. However, when considered in absolute terms, the countries with the highest numbers of enslaved people are (as shown on the map above) India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Russia, Thailand, Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and Bangladesh (altogether represent the 76% of modern slaved people). According to this ranking in Spain there are 6,008 enslaved people. We have to remember that slavery is a system under which certain people can be sold and bought as property and this happens even in the most developed countries of the world. But lets focus on the most affected countries: Mauritania. In Mauritania theres an estimation of about 150,000 enslaved people in a country where the population is 3,796,141 citizens. It means that up to 20 percent of the Mauritanian population is enslaved. Slavery in Mauritania primarily takes the form of chattel slavery, meaning that adults and children in slavery are the full property of their masters who exercise total ownership over them and their descendants. Slave status has been passed down through the generations from people originally captured during historical raids by the slaveowning groups. 10 People in slavery may be bought and sold, rented out and given away as gifts. Slavery is prevalent in both rural and urban areas. It is reported that women are disproportionately affected by slavery; for example, they usually work within the domestic sphere, and a high level of control is exercised over their movements and social interactions. They are subject to sexual assault by their masters. Womens roles include childcare and domestic chores, but they may also herd animals and farm, as men in slavery do. 11 Beyond the context of private homes, it is reported that some boys, who have been sent to attend Koranic schools to become talibes (students), have been forced into begging. Although the scale of this problem is not known, it is thought to be quite significant; affecting local boys as well as boys trafficked into Mauritania from the

Map of The Global Slavery Index 2013. Walk Free Foundation: Retrieved 7 November 2013, from http://www.globalslaveryindex.org/findings/#studies 10 US Trafficking in Persons Report 2013, Mauritania Country Narrative, p258, US Department of State: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/210740.pdf 11 Thematic report on slavery in Mauritania for the UN Human Rights Committee Adoption of the List of Issues on the initial report of Mauritania (11- 28 March 2013), 107th Session, Anti-Slavery International: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:G2LF1qkrFMcJ:tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/C CPR/Shared%2520Documents/MRT/INT_CCPR_NGO_MRT_14502_E.doc+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&g l=au

surrounding regions. 12 It is also reported that women have been subjected to forced marriage and sexual exploitation, both within Mauritania but also in the Middle East. 13 Slaves are not permitted to have any possessions, as they are considered to be possessions themselves. As such they are denied inheritance rights and ownership of land and other resources. When an enslaved person marries, the dowry is taken by the master and if they die their property can be claimed by the master. 14 The first measure against this violation of the Human Rights shall be to mandate and task one central unit of law enforcement with responsibility for investigating, and reporting quarterly on progress of investigations of slavery. In a word: the intervention of foreign forces in the country to restore the order. Arrived to this point we can talk about compensations, which should exist for those who are at the moment suffering any kind of slavery. Hence its necessary to establish a victim-support mechanism, with emergency shelter and assistance, legal assistance and reintegration programmes.

5. Whether the descendants of the slaves should receive compensations or not

When there is a compensation to make and a harm to restore theres also money to pay. Lets make clear that money is not here the key factor in the decision of a court but the restoration of the honor and dignity as well as the psychological harm caused by the crime committed. First we have to make clear if those crimes where such. No one may be convicted or sentenced for actions or omissions which when committed did not constitute a criminal offence, misdemeanor or administrative offence under the law then in force. 15 Most of the crimes regarding slave trade whose victims are only descendants-, were committed decades ago, maybe when the legislation on slavery was merely inexistent. Its in October 7th 1886 when there is a positive legislation regarding this crime, in the isle of Cuba, then territory of the Spanish crown under the monarchy of Alphonse XII. 16 So slavery was abolished in Spain 127 years ago. Crimes against slavery might be punished, according to the Constitution, within the period of time from the very same day the King signed the law and today.

US Trafficking in Persons Report 2013, Mauritania Country Narrative, p258, US Department of State: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/210740.pdf 13 Ibid. 14 Thematic report on slavery in Mauritania for the UN Human Rights Committee Adoption of the List of Issues on the initial report of Mauritania (11- 28 March 2013), 107th Session, Anti-Slavery International: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:G2LF1qkrFMcJ:tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/C CPR/Shared%2520Documents/MRT/INT_CCPR_NGO_MRT_14502_E.doc+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&g l=au 15 Spanish Constitution. Spain: 1978, Part I: Fundamental Rights and Duties, Chapter 2: Rights and Freedoms, Division I: Fundamental Rights and Public Freedoms, Section 25.1 16 Reglamento del Patronato de los esclavos, Spain: 1886.

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So compensations, if given to the descendants, should be given to those whose ancestors were undergoing this crime under the period quoted above. If given to those that dont deserve their crimes to be recognized and their harm to be restored (because there was no such a crime, regarding Law) it would be for other reasons: historical deprivation of recognition of a certain race that suffered from slavery by the Spanish State in the past or for other reasons of charity that a court couldnt take for themselves as it goes far beyond the limits of the interpretation of the law; that is to say that the last decision will be of the Government itself and the money should be recorded as a spending on the State Budget. Writing those last lines I realized that we the citizens living in Spain nowadays pay for the things that went wrong in the former generations. This case studied here might not be a realistic case here in Spain but, for instance, compensations given by Germany to the people of Israel even today from the huge damage caused during World War II is being paid by current citizens that a bit or nothing have to do with what happened about 70 years ago. As I said is not about money, but honor, dignity even life-, when taken away, cannot be restored as such: money is the balm to heal the wounds that never cease to suppurate.

1. Bibliography
Leviticus 25:44-46. Mechon-Mamre. Retrieved 7 November 2013, from http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0325.htm Slavery in Ancient Greece 2013. Britannica Online for Kids. Retrieved 7 November 2013, from http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/article201729/ancient-Greece W. W. Buckland, M. A. The Roman Law of Slavery. Cambridge: At the University Press, 1908. Dr. James Hunt, F. R. S. The Negros Place In Nature: A Paper Read Before The London Anthropological Society. New York: Van Evrie, Horton & Co., 1864. Thomas, Alexander and Sillen, Samuel. Racism and Psichiatry. New York: Carol Publishing Group, 1972. Spanish Constitution. Spain: 1978. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 1948. Map of The Global Slavery Index 2013. Walk Free Foundation: Retrieved 7 November 2013, from http://www.globalslaveryindex.org/findings/#studies US Trafficking in Persons Report 2013, Mauritania Country Narrative, US Department of State: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/210740.pdf Thematic report on slavery in Mauritania for the UN Human Rights Committee Adoption of the List of Issues on the initial report of Mauritania (11- 28 March 2013), 107th Session, Anti-Slavery International: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:G2LF1qkrFMcJ :tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CCPR/Shared%2520Documents/MRT/INT _CCPR_NGO_MRT_14502_E.doc+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au Reglamento del Patronato de los esclavos, Spain: 1886.

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