NIAMEY, Oct 27: West African judges on Monday fined the state of Niger the equivalent of 15,000 euros for failing to protect a woman sold into slavery aged 12, in a landmark ruling with implications across the region.

The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States recognised that the young woman, Adidjatou Mani Koraou, now 24, had been “a victim of slavery.” It held “the Republic of Niger responsible for the inaction” of its administrative and legal services, in a ruling read out by a court official.

Judges fined Niger 10m CFA francs ($18,600). The woman’s lawyers had claimed five times that amount in damages.

Rights campaigners welcomed the ruling, which was the first time the ECOWAS regional court had been asked to rule on a case of slavery.

“It’s absolutely historic because it’s the first verdict handed down on slavery by ECOWAS,” said Ilguilas Weila, head of a Niger anti-slavery lobbyist organisation Timidria.

Anti-Slavery International said the ruling would have a “wide-ranging impact on slavery and human rights issues beyond Niger.” And in Mauritania, the president of SOS-Esclaves (SOS-Slaves) welcomed the ruling.

In London the International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights said the ruling “sends an unequivocal message that the long-standing provisions on slavery must be given meaning in practice.” Koraou herself, a baby in her arms and smiling timidly, said: “I thank Allah that I’m now free like all of you”. She said she would use the compensation to treat herself and to set up a small business.

She was sold into slavery as a 12-year-old for the equivalent of 330 euros in the south of the country, and over the next decade she was forced to carry out domestic and agricultural work.

She also lived as a sexual slave or sadaka to her master, who already had four wives and seven other sadaka, according to the NGO Anti-Slavery International, which has backed her case.

Adijatou “served her master and his family for 10 years. She was never paid for her work and lived in a state of complete submission to her master, being subjected to regular beatings and sexual violence.—AFP