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International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
World
Rosemarie Zamora

'We Are Descendants of Human Beings': Tears in Parliament as France Repeals 1685 Slavery Law

France repealed the 1685 Code Noir, the colonial-era decree that once defined enslaved Africans as property (Credit: Yovan Verma : Pexels)

France's lower house of parliament has voted unanimously to repeal the 1685 Code Noir, the colonial-era decree that once defined enslaved Africans as property.

The National Assembly decision, 254-0, formally removes a law that had long lost legal force but remained symbolically present in French statute books.

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