France remembers slavery victims
By Clive Myrie
BBC News, Paris

France is to become the first European country to hold a national day of remembrance for the victims of slavery.

Wednesday's day of commemoration has been ordered by President Jacques Chirac, who says the stain of slavery on history must not be forgotten.

He will attend a special ceremony in the nation's capital designating 10 May as Slavery Remembrance Day.

But some of his other attempts to address aspects of his country's colonial past have drawn criticism.

On 10 May five years ago, the French Senate passed a law recognizing slavery as a crime against humanity.

For France, shackling people in chains was concentrated in her Caribbean colonies, with captured Africans transported to plantations.

Now Mr Chirac - with an eye on his legacy - wants France never to forget what he calls "this indelible stain on history".

Historians' anger

But he is not just looking to the past. He has promised to fight modern forms of slavery, allowing companies that knowingly use forced labour anywhere in the world to be prosecuted in French courts.

But laws he has championed requiring schools to teach lessons on the horrors of the slave trade have proved very controversial.

Some historians are angry the government is dictating how history is taught in the classroom, while other critics are furious schools won't be required to highlight the positive role they say France played in its former colonies.

There's little doubt that on this day every year from now on, there will be heated debate about France and her colonial past.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4756635.stm