Article #37429

National assembly votes to repeal Code Noir under which enslaved people were beaten, raped and killed

For almost 180 years after France abolished slavery, the Code Noir (Black Code) allowing enslaved humans to be treated as property and worked, beaten, sold, raped or killed, remained in place.

On Thursday, the country’s bitterly divided national assembly voted unanimously to repeal it, in a rare show of political unity.