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Alpha Diallo is a graduate from Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, and a human rights lawyer based in Chicago. He travels around the world to advocate human rights values because he believes that respect for human rights can make the World a better place. He pictures the World as a village and countries as neighbors, and they should coexist in peace, since there is only one race, the human race, and one religion, love. When he does not travel, he sits Under the Human Rights Tree (UTHRT) to write and share human rights stories with the World so he can open a new gate of legal knowledge to a new audience.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Children Rights in Senegal: Talibes are at the crossroads between Right to Education and Freedom of Religion.



Senegal, called the Country of Teranga, was born on April 4, 1960, and used to be part of the Kingdom of Djolof. It is situated at the western part of Africa, and is well praised by western countries as a democratically healthy African country. In fact, it has never witnessed a military coup, and has always organized elections, transparent or not.

As child, I grew up in Dakar, capital of Senegal. I saw children with dirty clothes, walking in the streets. They carried empty pots in their hands, and begged for food and money. It never occurred to me to inquire “Why were they wearing dirty clothes, or begging for money and food?” The reality was, they were part of our social fabric, so I grew up seeing their presence as normal; people called them Talibes.

Talibe originated from Arabic, and the term “talib” means “student”. Talibes are viewed as religious students following a specific religious sect or teacher. They are often children 4 to 12 year of ages, living in Daara with a Marabout, a religious teacher, in order to pursue a free religious education.

The Talibe tradition has been around for centuries. With the establishment of Islam in the 11th century by the Almoravide Muslims from northwest Africa, the Daaras, which are places children come to learn the Koran, started flourishing around the region with the diligence of Sufi brotherhoods such as Tijani, Qadiriyyah, Layene and Muridiyyah, characterized by their desires to spread their knowledge and enlarge the numbers of their followers.

It is part of Senegalese tradition for parents to send their children to Daara, so they could learn the Koran, know how to pray, and behave as good Muslims. Most parents believe it is their responsibility to make sure their children are successful in this life; therefore, they send them to French school. They are also devoted to preparing for their children’s after life; for that reason, they send them to a Marabout of their Sufi brotherhood in order to seek religious knowledge without their children's consent. They may see their child suffering hardships, abuse, and poor conditions of living as part of life’s learning experience and one’s test of faith. Parents avoid questioning marabout’s behaviors, because under Sufism, the relationship between Marabout and his student talibe is based on absolute submission. Parents view any voice denouncing Talibe abuses as an occidental point of view and, therefore, anti-Islamic. Nevertheless, today we witness that the Talibe tradition has been hijacked by a few religious teachers called Faux Marabouts, or fake Marabouts, who subject children to human rights abuses.

Human Rights Watch in its April 2010 reports indicated that at least 50,000 children were Talibes. They often come from rural areas in Senegal to urban areas in order to live and learn from a Marabout. In these “daaras”, children are forced to beg on the pretext that begging is essential to sustain the Daara. As a result, children spend long hours in the street begging for money and food, and consequently, little time in school to obtain a koranic education.
They often are asked to bring a certain quota of money, and if they don’t, they are subjected to beatings. Talibes are used as free labor, and suffer mental and physical abuses.

The Senegalese government has been trying to deal with the Talibe issue by adopting laws, such as Law No.2005-06, to combat the practice of forced begging, and its article 3 states: “Whosoever organizes the begging of another in order to benefit, or hires, leads, or deceives a person in order to engage him in begging or to exercise pressure on him to beg ... will be punished by imprisonment of 2 to 5 years and a fine of 500,000 to 2,000,000 francs [US$1,160 to $4,350]”. However, many human rights organizations believe that the Senegalese government is not doing enough to stop human rights violations on Talibes.

In Senegal, grand Marabouts have a great deal of political power, so the Senegalese public officials try not to alienate them or give them the impression that they are imposing occidental values in detriment of the Senegalese traditions. Other realities that sustain the Talibe issue besides traditions and socio-economic realities are articles 21 and article 22 under the Senegalese constitution that guarantee the fundamental rights to education to all Senegalese children, regardless of gender and domicile. Senegal, however, does not have the means to fulfill those duties under its constitution; therefore, the government relies on religious education to boost its own “No Child Left Behind”. The Senegalese constitution under article 24 also guarantees a free practice and profession of religions; therefore, any moves to eradicate the Talibe issue by Senegalese authorities could be viewed as interference into Senegalese freedom of religions. As a result, Talibes find themselves at the crossroads between Right to Education and Freedom of Religions.

As night falls, Mame Coumba Dauphin, goddess of the Atlantic Ocean, wakes up and releases a fresh air into Dakar city to clean its daily sins. She watches and protects its inhabitants from harm. At Dawn you may hear the muezzin calls for prayer, and griots sing the wisdom of great marabouts such as Cheick Amadou Bamba, Malick Sy, Seydina Limamou Laye and Abd Al Qadir Al-Jilani Abdal, which guides the Senegalese people to live together peacefully despite their religious differences and denomination.
However, at the Daara where Ousmane the talibe lives, he has already gone through beatings for not bringing the money required for the day. He has also gone through his daily prayers, which are full of unanswered questions. I believe we owe Ousmane the talibe an answer by standing with the children of Senegal. I believe Senegal has a duty to respect its national and international commitments related to children’s rights, and I also believe the international community owes him an answer by enforcing the Convention on Rights of the Child, adopted by the United Nations Assembly on November 20, 1989. As Kofi Annan said, "There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they can grow up in peace."

Sincerely,

Alpha Diallo
                                   





We could learn more:

Talibe: The Least Favored Children of Senegal.


Ismael Lo Song Talibe