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	Former slave, Hadijatou Mani, is suing state of Niger over cruelty by Lucy Bannerman The Times (UK)   April 9, 2008   A former slave is suing the state of Niger in a landmark legal challenge, claiming that the country failed to protect her from being sold into a life of servitude and sexual slavery.   Hadijatou Mani accused the Government yesterday of failing to implement its own laws that criminalised slavery in 2003.   If successful, her case — which is being heard by the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) — could pave the way for similar claims from the hidden population of slaves living in their hundreds of thousands across the Sahel region.   “I want people to know what is happening,” said Ms Mani, who was sold to a master for £250 when she was 12 years old. Giving evidence with her youngest child strapped to her back, the former slave told the court how she was bargained over “like a goat”.   She said: “I have not had a day off in my life, and I want the suffering of so many women to stop. This situation must end, so I am very pleased I have been able to tell the judges about my case.” She is claiming compensation of about £40,000 and hopes that a judgment will strengthen legislation in Niger, where anti-slavery laws appear to have made little impact since being introduced five years ago.   The case is unique because it is the first of its kind to be heard by the Ecowas court. A ruling in her favour would oblige all 15 West African member states to take action against slavery, a traditionally acceptable practice that remains taboo and whose existence is often still denied at official levels. “This is a hugely significant case,” said Helen Duffy, legal director of Interights, a non-governmental organisation based in London that is sponsoring Ms Mani''s case.   “It should clarify not only Niger''s obligations to protect people like Hadijatou, but also those of many other countries. The actual process itself is having a positive impact, and already we are seeing debate on a subject which some governments still claim doesn''t even exist.”   Romana Cacchioli, of Anti-Slavery International, which is also supporting the case, said: “A positive ruling would send a message that the longstanding legal prohibition on slavery must be translated into practice.”   About 43,000 people are thought to be enslaved in the impoverished desert nation of Niger. For ten years, Ms Mani was forced to carry out unpaid domestic and agricultural work, and was later abused as a sexual slave by her owner, who had four wives and seven other such slaves, or “sadaka”. When Niger outlawed slavery, Ms Mani was released officially and given a “liberation certificate”. Her “master” refused to let her go, claiming that she was his wife, but a local tribunal allowed her to leave.   However, when she married another man, she was found guilty of bigamy and was forced to spend three months in jail.   Ms Mani, who is thought to be 24, is the first former slave to bring an action against a state. In the past, members of slave castes in countries such as India have mounted legal challenges against individuals or former employers.   Her lawyers argue that slavery is still accepted in customary law, despite being outlawed by Niger''s criminal code and constitution.   Yesterday, at the Supreme Court in the capital of Niamey, where Ecowas is sitting, state representatives denied that slavery was a problem.   The sociologist Djouilde Laya disputed the claim, telling the court: “There are two important dates in the history of this country. One is the day of independence. The other is the day this case began.” The trial is expected to last five days.
	Leniency for corporate crime by big corporations in the U.S. by Eric Lichtblau International Herald Tribune USA   April 9, 2008   In 2005, the U.S. authorities concluded that a Monsanto consultant had visited the home of an Indonesian official and, with the approval of a senior company executive, handed over an envelope stuffed with hundred-dollar bills. The money was meant as a bribe to win looser environmental regulations for Monsanto''s cotton crops, according to a court document. Monsanto was also caught concealing the bribe with fake invoices.   A few years earlier, in the age of Enron, these kinds of charges would probably have resulted in a criminal indictment. Instead, Monsanto was allowed to pay $1 million and avoid criminal prosecution by entering into a monitoring agreement with the Justice Department.   In a major shift of policy, the Justice Department, once known for taking down giant corporations, including the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, has put off prosecuting more than 50 companies suspected of wrongdoing over the last three years.   Instead, many companies, from boutique outfits to immense corporations like American Express, have avoided the cost and stigma of defending themselves against criminal charges with a so-called deferred prosecution agreement, which allows the government to collect fines and appoint an outside monitor to impose internal reforms without going through a trial. In many cases, the name of the monitor and the details of the agreement are kept secret.   Deferred prosecutions have become a favorite tool of the Bush administration. But legal experts now wonder if the policy shift has led companies, in particular financial institutions now under investigation for their roles in the subprime mortgage debacle, to test the limits of corporate anti-fraud laws.   Companies have readily agreed to the deferred prosecutions, said Vikramaditya Khanna, a law professor at the University of Michigan who has studied their use, because "clearly it avoids a bigger headache for them."   Lawyers suggest that companies may be willing to take more risks because they know that, if they are caught, the chances of getting a deferred prosecution are good. "Some companies may bear the risk" of legally questionable business practices if they believe they can cut a deal to defer their prosecution indefinitely, Khanna said.   Legal experts say the tactic may have sent the wrong signal to corporations - the promise, in effect, of a get-out-of-jail-free card.   The growing use of deferred prosecutions also suggests one road map the Justice Department might follow in the subprime mortgage investigations.   Deferred prosecution agreements, or DPAs, have become controversial because of a medical supply company''s agreement to pay up to $52 million to the consulting firm of John Ashcroft, the former attorney general, as an outside monitor to avoid criminal prosecution. That agreement has prompted congressional inquiries and calls for stricter guidelines.   Charles Intriago, a former federal prosecutor in Miami who specializes in money-laundering issues, said that huge penalties, like the $65 million fine for American Express Bank International in 2007, were "peanuts" compared with the damage posed by a criminal conviction.   The company was accused of failing to enact internal controls to guard against laundering of drug money and other reporting problems.   The agreements were once rare, but their use has skyrocketed in the current administration, with 35 deals last year alone by the Justice Department, lawyers who follow the trend said. Banks, financial service companies and auditors have frequently entered into such agreements, including recent ones involving Merrill Lynch, the Bank of New York, AmSouth Bank, KPMG and others.   Beyond financial crimes, deferred agreements have been used in lieu of prosecuting companies - though not individuals - for export control violations, obscenity violations, Medicare and Medicaid fraud, kickbacks and environmental violations.   In general, such agreements result in companies acknowledging wrongdoing by not contesting criminal charges, but without formally admitting guilt. Most agreements end after two or three years with the charges permanently dismissed.   Monsanto, for example, while not admitting guilt, agreed to abstain from further violations of bribery laws. In an e-mail message, Lori Fisher, a spokeswoman, said that Monsanto had cooperated with the Justice Department and fully complied with the agreement, leading to deferred charges being permanently dismissed in early March.   The trend has led to increased speculation about how the Justice Department might use the agreements in investigations against financial companies in the mortgage lending scandal, which has become a top law enforcement priority for the department.   The FBI has 17 open inquiries into accusations of corporate fraud in connection with the subprime scandal, and Neil Power, who leads the bureau''s economics crime unit, said in an interview that the number was certain to grow.   The FBI has publicly identified only one target - Doral Financial, a mortgage company based in Puerto Rico whose former treasurer has already been indicted - but major companies like Countrywide Financial, once the biggest U.S. mortgage lender, have also been reported to be under criminal investigation.   Power said the investigations were a reflection of the "environment of greed" that allowed companies to package mortgages into securities they sold to investors without sufficient documentation of the borrower''s ability to repay. One line of criminal inquiry focuses on whether bond companies gave accurate information to investors. "What we''re looking at," he said, "is the fact that they may be performing accounting fraud."   Justice Department officials would not discuss the role that deferred prosecution agreements might play in their ultimate handling of the mortgage investigations. One official said it was "way too early" to begin speculating about such possibilities. But the prospect already has some experts in the field worried.   Michael McDonald, a former IRS investigator in Miami who is a private consultant and has given seminars on deferred prosecutions, said such deals "should not be on the board" in the subprime mortgage investigations.   "In light of what this did to our economy, people shouldn''t just be able to write a check and walk away," McDonald said. "People should be prosecuted for it and go to jail."   Timothy Dickinson, a lawyer in Washington who was the outside monitor for Monsanto, agreed. Corporate lenders caught up in the mortgage scandals should not assume they will be given the chance for a deferred prosecution, Dickinson said, and the Justice Department should "insist on a guilty plea" rather than offering a deal.
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