The population of Mauritania is quite heterogeneous; caste and ethnic issues are the source of many of the country's most deeply rooted and sensitive human rights problems. Senior government officials who met with a visiting Human Rights Watch delegation in March 2017 pointed to the thousands of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) registered in the country as evidence of the vibrancy of domestic civil society and authorities. The first group of Hassaniya speakers are known as the Beidani, descendants of the Arab and Berber conquerors of the country.
Repeal all provisions of the 1993 amnesty law preventing the investigation and prosecution of individuals responsible for serious human rights violations during the period known as the Passif Humanitarian.
Background
4 UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, Mutuma Ruteere, A/HRC/26/49/Add.1, 3 June 2014,. 21 UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, 3 June 2014. 37 UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights on his mission to Mauritania, 8 March 2017.
38 UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, 3 June 2014, p.
Restrictions on Civil Society
Legal Framework
The first article of the constitution guarantees all citizens equality before the law and prohibits "propaganda of a racial or ethnic nature." Article 10 guarantees citizens the right to freedom of movement, freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of assembly. The UN Human Rights Committee has never issued a general comment interpreting the right to freedom of association as protected by Article 22 of the ICCPR, but it has affirmed that state parties "should take all appropriate measures to avoid unnecessary obstacles and restrictions, in law or in practice, against the activities of civil society .Mauritania first passed a law abolishing slavery in 1981, but only criminalized it in 2007.161 The 2007 law allowed for the creation of the program for the eradication of slavery (le Program pour l'éradication des séquelles de l'esclavage, PESE ) for to address the legacy of slavery.
158 UN Human Rights Council, Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Peaceful Assembly and Association, Maina Kiai, A/HRC/26/29, 14 April 2014. Simon, with the assistance of the staff of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, for the Open Society Institute, “Guidelines for Laws Affecting Civil Society Organizations,” 2nd ed., p. The government also passed an anti-torture law in 2015 that defined torture in the same way as Article 1 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Other Forms of Torture.
See also Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, "Mauritania's 'Breaking Point in Anti-Slavery' - UN Expert Welcomes Adoption of Roadmap," March 10, 2014. 163 Sarah Mathewson and Rebecca Marlin, "Mauritania's Implementation of Anti-Slavery Legislation: A Continued Failure of the justice system in preventing, protecting and punishing," p. 165 Human Rights Watch interview with Said and Yarig Maatalah, Nouakchott, March 23, 2017, and Sarah Mathewson and Rebecca Marlin, “Enforcement of Mauritania's Anti-Slavery Law: Continuing Failure of the Justice System to Prevent, Protect, and Punish,” Gesellschaft für Bedrohte Völker, Minority Rights Group International, Anti-Slavery International, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, SOS-Sclaves, Initiative to Revive the Abolitionist Movement, October 2015, p.
Human Rights Watch asked the authorities in writing (see Appendix I) whether they plan to introduce changes to the Criminal Procedure Code to ensure compliance with a provision of the 2015 Anti-Torture Act, which gives all detainees the right to a lawyer from the beginning of any period of detention, and whether informed the police, prosecutors and judges about the priority of the newer law over the Criminal Procedure Code regarding the right of access to a lawyer. 172 Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in his mission in Mauritania, A/HRC/34/54/Add.1, 13 December 2016.
Acknowledgments
Appendix I: Letter to Minister of Justice Brahim Daddah and Minister of Interior Ahmedou
Retired colonel Oumar Ould Beibacar told Human Rights Watch that because of his criticism of the authorities' response to a passive humanitarian operation, he is under investigation for terrorist offenses and has been under a judicial control order barring him from leaving the capital, Nouakchott, since December 2015. SOS- Esclaves and the Initiative for the Revival of the Abolitionist Movement (IRAM) are two of the most prominent anti-slavery organizations in the country. Under the Associations Act of 1964, the Ministry of Home Affairs has the power to approve applications for licenses from civil society organizations and to revoke the licenses of organizations engaged in "anti-national propaganda" or whose work "adversely affects the minds of the people". people." A draft law intended to repeal and replace the 1964 law is still under consideration, having been approved by the Council of Ministers in 2016.
Abdallahi Saleck and Moussa Bilal Biram, two of the thirteen IRAM members sent to prison in August 2016, after being charged with involvement in the violent unrest in Nouakchott in June 2016, remain in prison. Members of the February 25 Movement, a protest movement that emerged in February 2011, told Human Rights Watch that they were the subject of government repression and harassment in retaliation for their criticism of the authorities. Cheikh Baye Ould Cheikh Mohamed, a journalist and a member of the 25th February movement received a three-year prison sentence for "offending public authorities, violence and material aggression".
The Initiative for the Revival of the Abolitionist Movement (IRAM), Touche pas à ma Nationalité, and Le collectif des veuves des victimes militaires et civiles des événements de all state that they applied for legal recognition and were denied. If so, how can the refusal to allow these organizations to formally register as associations be reconciled with Mauritania's obligation to respect the right to freedom of association, as set out in article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). How can the authorities reconcile the prosecution of Oumar Ould Beibacar with his obligation to respect the right to freedom of expression, as set out in article 21 of the ICCPR.
Is Beibacar still under a judicial control order and, if so, what is the legal basis for the length of the order exceeding the maximum period of 10 months provided for by law. Do the authorities plan to amend articles 57 and 58 of the criminal procedure code to ensure compliance with Mauritania's 2015 anti-torture law and to ensure that all detainees have the right to a lawyer from the start each period of detention.
Appendix II: Mauritania Ministry of Justice Response to Human Rights Watch (English
It is unfortunately notable that you are hung up on and against the General Amnesty Act of 1993, which is no longer a subject of. With regard to the approval of associations, it should be noted that the government has already approved a draft law that would repeal and replace the 1964 Act, and it will soon submit this draft law to the Danish Parliament for a vote before it can be applied, cf. the procedures for its issuance, under appropriate circumstances, guarantees the exercise of freedoms and rights and the initiation of related international obligations under the Mauritanian Code of Law. The Roadmap to Combat Modern Forms of Slavery and the institutions established under it, such as the Joint Ministerial Committee to Combat Slavery and the Technical Committee and the Solidarity Agency, are all shining examples of a clear strategy and ambitious programs to heal the wounds, that is caused by the practice of slavery.
Your letter also touched on the registration process for Mauritanian citizens and the difficulty of obtaining civil documents, but this process is carried out normally and in the usual way, as evidenced by the fact that this ambitious program has so far been able to register the vast majority of citizens and foreigners living here, with more than 95% registered measured in relation to the general census of residents and housing carried out in early 2013, and the work is underway. As for retired Colonel Oumar Ould Beibacar, he is being prosecuted on charges of inciting ethnic and racial strife and inciting damage to the internal and external security of the State, which are acts punishable under the Mauritanian Criminal Code, in accordance with the provisions in the Counter-Terrorism Act and the Act on Freedom of the Press. He has appealed to overturn the last sentence passed on him, and the decision is still before the Supreme Court.
Regarding the so-called Gazra Bouamatou events, in 2016 the individuals claiming to be affiliated with the unlicensed "IRA" movement carried out acts of rioting and armed congregation and incited others to do the same, and they violently assaulted public authorities assaulted. perform their duties, destroy public and private property, which are criminal acts punishable under applicable law. Seized evidence was presented to the court, including video clips of the scene of the crime from cameras, some of which belonged to the defendants themselves, showing the involvement of some of them in the acts attributed to them, and the Court of Appeal threw out this evidence for all the defendants except the two who appeared clearly in the videos. The case is still before the Supreme Court, so the video cannot be provided to anyone, not a party to the case.
As for the so-called Cheikh Baye, he was prosecuted on the charge of aggravated assault and insulting a public authority, which are acts provided for in articles 204, 210 and 212 of the criminal code, and he was found guilty and sentenced to sentenced to one year, suspended for seven months. Regarding his confessions, the individual himself told the Court during his trial that the police did not torture him, as is evident from the complete record of his statements which he.
