Editing Pygmy peoples (section)

==== Reported slavery ====
In the Republic of the Congo, where Pygmies make up 2% of the population, many Pygmies live as [[Slavery in Africa|slaves]] to [[Bantu peoples|Bantu]] masters. The nation is deeply stratified between these two major ethnic groups. The Pygmy slaves belong to their Bantu masters from birth in a relationship that the Bantus call a time-honored tradition. A 2007 news report stated that even though Pygmies are responsible for much of the hunting, fishing and manual labor in jungle villages, "Pygmies and Bantus alike say that Pygmies are often paid at the master's whim: in cigarettes, used clothing, or even nothing at all."<ref name=newsday>{{cite news |url=http://www.newsobserver.com/110/story/552528.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228160138/http://newsobserver.com/110/story/552528.html |archive-date=2009-02-28 |title=Congo's Pygmies live as slaves |work=The News & Observer |first=Katie |last=Thomas |date=March 12, 2007}}</ref> As a result of pressure from [[UNICEF]] and human-rights activists, in 2009, a law that would grant special protections to the Pygmy people was awaiting a vote by the Congo parliament.<ref name=newsday /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/16/world/as-the-world-intrudes-pygmies-feel-endangered.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |title=As the World Intrudes, Pygmies Feel Endangered |author=Nicholas D. Kristof |date=June 16, 1997 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701085434/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/16/world/as-the-world-intrudes-pygmies-feel-endangered.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |archive-date=July 1, 2017 }}</ref> According to reports made in 2013, this law was never passed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pygmies: Racism |website=[[Survival International]] |url=http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/pygmies/racism |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423122241/http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/pygmies/racism |archive-date=2015-04-23 }}</ref>

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, during the [[Ituri conflict]], Ugandan-backed rebel groups were accused by the UN of enslaving Mbutis to prospect for minerals and forage for forest food, with those returning empty handed being killed and eaten.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jan/09/congo.jamesastill |title=Congo rebels are eating pygmies, UN says |first=James |last=Astill |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=8 January 2003|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329051637/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/jan/09/congo.jamesastill|archive-date=29 March 2017}}</ref>