by Monica Mark

Mbarka Mint Aheimed first met her father on the day he forced her into slavery. The man who dragged her from her mother when she was five-year-old needed “a 2）drudge” in his wifes mansion.

“Because my mother was her husbands slave， his wife saw us all as personal property. It was completely normal for her to do what she wanted with us，” Aheimed would later tell antislave activists in Mauritania. Living in a tiny hut， open to the fierce heat of the orange dune-swept deserts， she worked from dawn to dusk. For 15 years， she never had a day off. “The family lived in a mansion， but I was the only person who 3）lifted a finger to work.” she said.

Once she was old enough to start covering her head—but forced， against tradition， to leave her arms bare to carry out heavy lifting—one of the slaveowners sons drove her miles into the desert and raped her. Later he would only take her far enough to collect firewood for making tea on their return.

瑪卡·米恩特·安赫米德第一次見(jiàn)到自己的父親是在他逼她為奴的那天。在她五歲那年，她父親妻子家中需要一名苦工，他便把她從生母那里拽走，她從此被迫淪為奴隸。

“因?yàn)槲夷赣H是我爸的奴隸，他的正室便視我們?yōu)槠鋫€(gè)人財(cái)產(chǎn)。他的妻子想對(duì)我們做什么就做什么，那都是完全正常的，”安赫米德后來(lái)對(duì)毛里塔尼亞的廢奴運(yùn)動(dòng)者這么說(shuō)。她住在一個(gè)窄小的棚屋里，承受著滿(mǎn)布沙丘的黃色沙漠里的酷熱，每天起早貪黑地干活。15年來(lái)，她從沒(méi)休息過(guò)一天?！八麄円患易佣甲≡谝粋€(gè)大屋子里，但只有我一個(gè)人干活?！彼f(shuō)道。

當(dāng)她到了一定年齡，需要開(kāi)始戴頭巾時(shí)，她卻不得不，反傳統(tǒng)地，赤裸著雙臂，來(lái)干粗重活。這個(gè)奴隸主的其中一個(gè)兒子把她載到幾英里外的沙漠中，強(qiáng)暴了她。之后，他只會(huì)是又把她帶到足夠遠(yuǎn)的地方撿木柴，好讓他們回去的時(shí)候有柴火沏茶。

Aheimeds story isnt uncommon. In 1981 Mauritania became the last country to abolish slavery， although it was only criminalised in 2007. Officials repeatedly denied it existed and refused to talk about slavery. But activists and former slaves spoke of a centuries-old practice， a relic of the trans-Sahara slave trade， when Arabic-speaking Moors 4）raided African villages， flourishing in remote 5）outposts of this vast desert country.

A rigid caste system that favours those of“noble-birth”， and 6）zealous efforts to brand the country an Arab republic， concentrates power and wealth among the overwhelmingly lighterskinned Moors， leaving slave-descended darkerskinned Moors and black Africans on the edges of society. Up to 800，000 people in a nation of 3.5 million remain 7）chattels， according to activists who routinely document cases like Aheimeds.

But slavery is often harder to pin down. With almost half the population living on less than $2 a day， many slaveowners work alongside their slaves.

Boubacar Messaoud grew up in a grey area between slavery and freedom， paid a token salary in return for farming. “One day when we were about seven， the slaveowners son， whose name was also Boubacar， said I should be called Boubacar abd [the black slave]， so people didnt confuse us. That was when I understood.”

安赫米德的故事并不少見(jiàn)。1981年，毛里塔尼亞成為最后一個(gè)廢除奴隸制的國(guó)家，盡管蓄奴在這個(gè)國(guó)家直到2007年才被認(rèn)定為違法。政府官員屢次否認(rèn)奴隸制的存在并拒絕談?wù)摯嗽掝}。但是廢奴運(yùn)動(dòng)者和曾當(dāng)過(guò)奴隸的人都在講著這種沿襲了好幾百年，因跨撒哈拉沙漠奴隸交易而生的舊習(xí)，那時(shí)，說(shuō)阿拉伯語(yǔ)的摩爾人突襲非洲人的村落，在這個(gè)廣闊的沙漠國(guó)家的邊陲上落地生根。

嚴(yán)格的等級(jí)制度有利于那些“生而高貴”且熱衷于把國(guó)家打造成一個(gè)阿拉伯共和國(guó)的人，權(quán)力和財(cái)富都集于占大多數(shù)的淺膚色摩爾人身上，把淪為奴隸的深膚色摩爾人和非洲黑人棄置于社會(huì)的邊緣。根據(jù)定期對(duì)類(lèi)似安赫米德的案例進(jìn)行文檔記錄的廢奴運(yùn)動(dòng)者所述，在這個(gè)擁有350萬(wàn)人口的國(guó)家里，多達(dá)80萬(wàn)的人口是奴隸。

但是，奴隸制經(jīng)常很難受到制約。這個(gè)國(guó)家近乎一半的人口每天收入不足兩美元，很多奴隸主和他們的奴隸一起工作。

巴布卡·米沙奧德在奴隸和自由身份的灰色地帶之間長(zhǎng)大，干農(nóng)活換取象征性的薪水?！霸谖覀兇蠹s七歲那年，有一天，奴隸主的兒子，他也叫巴布卡，說(shuō)我應(yīng)該叫做黑人奴隸巴布卡，這樣人們才不會(huì)認(rèn)錯(cuò)我倆的身份。我是那時(shí)候開(kāi)始明白自己是奴隸的?！?img src="https://cimg.fx361.com/images/2018/07/08/qkimagesfkyyfkyy201305fkyy20130511-1-l.jpg"/>

And many do not identify themselves as slaves.“When people talk of slavery， they talk of chains， prisons， and threats. That was the slavery of those who had known liberty—the Africans who jumped into the sea rather than be enslaved in America，”said Messaoud， who founded the abolitionist organisation SOS Slaves. “Today we have the slavery American plantation owners dreamed of. Slaves believe their condition is necessary to reach paradise.”

Thirteen years after slavery was abolished， SOS Slaves began holding secret meetings beneath rugs to muffle voices， in moonlight on the flat rooftop of a building in 8）Nouakchott. Messaoud and his co-founder， a “noble” who had chosen a slave as a seventh birthday gift， were harassed and imprisoned. Even today， state agents lurking outside the building trail visitors afterwards.

Family members initially voiced opposition， too. “My mother believed she was protecting me when she reminded me that I was a slave—that I shouldnt forget my place，” Messaoud said.

Statistics paint a bleak—and complicated—picture. A judge told us Mauritania is unlikely to improve on its record of one successful 9）prosecution anytime soon： “[Recently] three runaway children overheard me saying we had to imprison their master. They immediately started crying in horror. They suddenly changed their story， they said he always treated them well， fed them， sheltered them. They wanted to go back with him.”

Some former slaves like Malaka， 28， tended to his owners goats unsupervised for weeks at a time in the desert. “I didnt want to leave because I was scared to leave my family behind. And I was scared because I had heard about money， but I had never seen it in my life，” he said.

還有很多人不認(rèn)為自己是奴隸。“當(dāng)人們談及奴隸制時(shí)，提的都是鎖鏈、牢房、脅迫什么的。這就是懂得自由的人們所知道的奴隸制——非洲人寧愿跳海也不愿意在美洲被奴役，”米沙奧德說(shuō)道，他成立了廢奴組織——奴隸救援組織?！叭缃?，這種狀況是美洲莊園奴隸主夢(mèng)寐以求的。奴隸認(rèn)為自己的處境是以后能夠上天堂的必經(jīng)之路。”

奴隸制被廢除的13年后，奴隸救援組織開(kāi)始在努瓦克肖特一座建筑的平屋頂上借著月色，在毯子的遮蓋下低聲細(xì)語(yǔ)地舉行秘密會(huì)議。米沙奧德和組織的共同創(chuàng)立者——一位在七歲時(shí)挑選過(guò)一名奴隸作為生日禮物的貴族，他們?cè)鴤涫茏钃线€被監(jiān)禁過(guò)。即使是在今天，潛藏在大樓外面的國(guó)家特工仍然在會(huì)后追蹤與會(huì)者。

家庭成員最初也都持反對(duì)立場(chǎng)?！拔夷赣H會(huì)提醒我作為奴隸的身份，覺(jué)得那是在保護(hù)我——我不應(yīng)該忘記自己的身份，”米沙奧德說(shuō)道。

數(shù)據(jù)呈現(xiàn)給我們的是一個(gè)黯淡且復(fù)雜的前景。一位法官告訴我們，毛里塔尼亞短期內(nèi)不大可能打破只有一起成功檢控這樣的紀(jì)錄：“（最近，）三個(gè)逃出來(lái)的小孩無(wú)意中聽(tīng)到我說(shuō)，我們要把他們的主人監(jiān)禁起來(lái)。他們立馬恐慌地大哭。他們突然改口供，說(shuō)主人一直對(duì)他們很好，給他們提供吃住。他們想跟他一起回去?！?/p>

一些像28歲的馬拉卡這樣的當(dāng)過(guò)奴隸的人，在沒(méi)人管的情況下，連續(xù)好幾個(gè)星期待在沙漠中看管主人的羊。“我不想離開(kāi)，因?yàn)槲液ε聛G下自己的家人。我聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)錢(qián)，但是我這輩子從沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)，這也使我很不安，”他說(shuō)道。

Escape is no guarantee of freedom. When Ahmeid went to her local 10）magistrate， her mother testified against her. Her uncle beat her savagely. After weeks shuttling between sympathisers， she found herself crouching in a two-storey building in Nouakchott late one evening as truckloads of policemen stormed an anti-slavery organisation where she had been sheltering others. The groups leader， Birame Ould Abeid， and three others were jailed after publicly burning religious texts that have been used to justify slavery， and calling for black Moors and black Africans to unite.

With black Moors used as foot-soldiers in state crackdowns that target black populations， mutual 11）suspicion between the two populations is unlikely to fade any time soon. But the routine arrests and beatings of abolitionists show how a ruling elite， having woven slavery into the heart of political power in Mauritania， are fearful of it unravelling， according to Nouakchott-based campaigner Toure Balla. “There are places where one family has 5，000 slaves—that is 5，000 guaranteed votes，” said Balla， who attends a growing swell of weekly protests.

Abolitionists say Mauritania is only the tip of the iceberg： “Slavery exists in all the countries of the Sahara desert. But its only when the slave lifts their head to speak that the crime is discovered，” said Messaoud.

逃跑并不保證一定能獲得自由。安赫米德訴諸當(dāng)?shù)毓賳T時(shí)，她母親卻指證她。她的叔叔狠狠地打了她一頓。在同情者之間游走了幾個(gè)星期后，一天深夜，她蜷縮在努瓦克肖特一棟兩層的樓房里，這時(shí)，一卡車(chē)的警察突襲了一個(gè)廢奴組織，這個(gè)組織一直是她的藏身之所。該組織的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者比拉米·奧爾德·阿貝德和其他的三個(gè)人因公開(kāi)焚毀那些為奴隸制辯護(hù)的宗教經(jīng)文，以及號(hào)召黑摩爾人和非洲黑人反抗奴隸制而被判入獄。

在國(guó)家對(duì)黑種人進(jìn)行鎮(zhèn)壓的時(shí)候，黑摩爾人被利用作鎮(zhèn)壓軍的步兵，兩個(gè)人種間的互相猜疑是不可能在短時(shí)間內(nèi)消除的。但是，按以努瓦克肖特為基地的廢奴運(yùn)動(dòng)家圖雷·巴拉的說(shuō)法，對(duì)廢奴主義者的例行逮捕和打擊表明，這個(gè)將奴隸制納入毛里塔尼亞政治權(quán)利中心的統(tǒng)治精英階層，對(duì)奴隸制的瓦解充滿(mǎn)恐懼?！坝行┑胤?，一個(gè)家庭就擁有五千奴隸——那就有五千張選票了，”巴拉說(shuō)道，他參加每周一次的抗議活動(dòng)，這個(gè)活動(dòng)的參與人數(shù)正在不斷增加。

廢奴主義者認(rèn)為毛里塔尼亞的蓄奴問(wèn)題只是冰山一角：“奴隸制存在于撒哈拉沙漠上所有的國(guó)家。但是只有奴隸們昂起頭為自己說(shuō)話，這種罪行才能被揭露出來(lái)，”米沙奧德說(shuō)道。