Mauritania / rights activists

Mauritania / rights activists

We have been closely following the judicial proceedings in Mauritania against members of two civil society organisations, including the anti-slavery Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA), after they held a demonstration on 11 November last year in Rosso in the southwest of the country.

Three men, including former presidential candidate Biram Dah Abeid, are serving out two-year sentences on charges that include "illegal assembly" and "refusal to carry out orders given by the administrative authorities". Another three people remain in detention in Nouakchott pending a verdict in their case, which is expected to be delivered on Thursday. Among other charges, these three IRA members are being prosecuted for belonging to an “unregistered organization”. This is a charge that was dropped in Dah Abeid’s case, even though he is the president of the IRA. The prosecutorial decision to charge these men under this offence appears to be arbitrary and unjustified.

We are deeply concerned at the severity of the sentences against Dah Abeid and his colleagues. The three men are appealing the verdict, but they remain in detention pending appeal.

In a report issued by the UN Human Rights Office in Mauritania in December, we urged the authorities to conduct an independent investigation into the events of 11 November 2014, including the behaviour of security forces. Regrettably, such an investigation has yet to be set up, in spite of concerns that our office has repeatedly expressed to the authorities on possible violations of the right to peaceful assembly and to freedom of association.

We urge the Government of Mauritania to immediately conduct such an investigation, and to release all those detained for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and to freedom of association. We call on Mauritania to ensure that those involved in the judicial process, including prosecutors, carry out their work in line with international human rights norms and standards.

We have also, in our engagement with the Government, encouraged a review of existing legislation on the rights to peaceful assembly and association, to ensure conformity with international human rights law.

ENDS

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