Articles for Mauritania

(Geneva, July 5, 2018) – In the context of the periodic review of Mauritania by the UN Committee against Torture (CAT), which is set to take place on July 24 and 25, 2018, Alkarama submitted its shadow report on June 25, 2018.

Following the examination of the Mauritanian National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) in November 2017, the Subcommittee on Accreditation (SCA) of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) recommended that the CNDH be downgraded from A to B status given its lack of compliance with the

In view of the second periodic review of Mauritania by the Committee against Torture (CAT), Alkarama submitted on 26 June 2017 its contribution to the List of Issues prepared by the Committee’s experts.

On 2 March 2017, during the 34th session of the Human Rights Council, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, Nils Melzer, presented the conclusions of the visit carried out in Mauritania by his predecessor Juan Mendez, from 25 January to 3 February 2016. The Special Rapporteur reminded the authorities of the need to apply the existing legislation and the safeguards. He also pointed out the persistence of torture, the poor conditions of detention for prisoners and the issue of pervasive impunity.

In February 2017, the Subcommittee on Accreditation (SCA) of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions published its report following its November 2016 session, during which the National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) was examined, and decided to postpone the review of the CNDH to its Autumn 2017 session.

On 19 October 2016, a group of seven United Nations human rights experts* issued a press release to express their "serious concern" about the situation of activists from the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement Initiative (IRA Mauritania) "imprisoned for their alleged role in a demonstration against forced evictions in Nouachkott" and "targeted by the government for their anti-slavery advocacy".

On 5 October 2016, Alkarama seized the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders (SR HRDs) with the case of 13 activists from the anti-slavery NGO, Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA Mauritanie), Amadou Tidjane Diop, Balla Touré, Hamady Lehbouss, Ahmed Amarvall, Khattry M'Bareck, Mohamed Daty, Jem

On 6 October 2016, Alkarama seized the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) of the case of Yaya Cissé, a Malian national arbitrarily detained in Mauritania for more than four years and sentenced to death on the basis of confessions obtained under torture.

Between 30 June and 9 July 2016, members of the Mauritanian NGO "Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA)", were subjected to a new wave of reprisals with 13 of its members arrested: Tidjane Amadou Diop Balla Touré, Hamady Lehbouss Ahmed Amarvall, Khattry M'Bareck Mohamed Daty, Jemal Beylil, Anne Ousmane Ousmane Lô, Abdallahi Matallah Seck, Biram Moussa, Mohamed Abdallahi Abou Diop and Mohamed Jaroullah.

On 25 November 2015, the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) announced that it will visit in Tunisia and Mauritania in 2016.