| 85 Black Sudanese boy slaves were freed from Arab masters last month through the mediation of the Arab-Dinka Peace Committee at Warawar, Southern Sudan. The freed slaves were documented last week by an international team of researchers sponsored by CSI. The freed slave boys were among the tens of thousands of Black women and children who had been enslaved by Sudanese government-sponsored militias during two decades of civil war. All of the boys reported that they were forced to work without pay, and were frequently beaten and subjected to racial insults. Over 80% of the boys reported that they had been forced to practice Islam against their will, while 18% claimed they had been raped by their masters or by their masters' friends and relatives. One 14-year-old boy, Mawien Garang, explained that his master forced him to serve another man as a male prostitute. 65% of the slaves reported that they had witnessed the execution of other Black Africans during slave raids or while in captivity. |