Today, 23rd January, Tunisia celebrates 169th anniversary of the Bey act abolishing slavery in Tunisia. This act made Tunisia the first Arab and Muslim country to abolish slavery in modern period in 1846 and it even predated the United States constitutional ban on slavery by nearly 20 years.
The Ottoman leader, Bey Ahmed Ibn Mustapha, issued a decree outlawing slavery in the country when he realized that the increased European intervention throughout North Africa threatened Tunisian independence and thus embraced abolition as a progressive reform measure to safeguard its integrity and sovereignty.
In comparison with other Arab countries, slavery was abolished in Morocco in 1922, Iraq in 1924, Qatar in 1952, Saudi Arabia and Yemen in 1962, the United Arab Emirates in 1963 and Oman in 1970.
In January 14th, Tunisians celebrated the 4th anniversary of the revolution and the path towards a democracy. However, today we still witness many racist practices…
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Racha Haffar 