France held first Slavery Remembrance Day in an EU country

France held a Slavery Remembrance Day - the first such event in an EU state. President Chirac said facing up to the colonial past was a "key to national cohesion".

The day of commemoration was ordered by Chirac, on the fifth anniversary of the passing of a law by the French Senate recognising slavery as a crime against humanity.

Hundreds of thousands of slaves were taken by French ships from Africa to plantations in the Caribbean before France banned the practice in 1848.

"It was imperative that slavery be given a place in our collective memory," said Marcel Dorigny, a history professor who helped institute Slavery Remembrance Day.

President Chirac also said he was committed to fighting modern forms of slavery, allowing companies that knowingly use forced labour anywhere in the world to be prosecuted in French courts.