Mr. Athie sought political asylum in the United States. Today, he is one of thousands of refugees who cannot return. The Mauritanian government denies that the country's blacks are oppressed or that slavery exists, but it will not allow human rights organizations to enter the country. Observers who have entered the country report that the slave trade is discreet. Two men might meet and negotiate, and an individual will change hands.
Fugitive slaves report that conditions are worst in the rural areas, where most of the slaves live.
Slaves don't even know they have rights, and they don't know anything about emancipation. I had heard of the abolition, but it had no practical effect on my life. The Sudanese government also denies that slavery exists, although Khartoum acknowledges that its Arab militia has been holding hostages until the conflict is settled. But the Comboni Fathers and other Christian groups say that the government of Lieut. Gen. Omar Hassan al Bashir, who took power in a coup in 1989, is forcing the southern blacks of the Dinka and Nuba tribes to convert and is trying to transform the country into an Islamic state.