§ 14. Mr. Edmund Harveyasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether he has any information as to the measures which are being taken in Ethiopia to carry out the decrees of the Emperor for the abolition of slavery; and whether steps are being taken to establish a service similar to that which has operated with success in the Sudan?
§ Mr. Law:Yes, Sir. Very active steps have been and are being taken by the Ethiopian Government to give effect to the Emperor's decrees. I learn, for example, that since June, 1942, 149 persons have been tried by the Ethiopian High Court for slave offences, of whom 119 were convicted. Eleven persons have been sentenced to death for these offences and 50 have received sentences of over five years' imprisonment. I have no information as regards the second part of the Question.
§ Mr. Harvey:As regards the second part of the Question, will the right hon. Gentleman bear in mind that it took many years in the Sudan for a similar organisation to get rid of slavery and that it is very desirable that such an organisation should exist in Ethiopia?
§ Sir Herbert WilliamsHas my right hon. Friend any estimate of the number of slaves in Ethiopia before the recent decree?