MAURITANIA

Five prisoners of conscience were sentenced to terms of imprisonment and at least five others had their movement restricted. Three other prisoners of conscience were put under house arrest. One prisoner of conscience was tried and acquitted. One person was sentenced to death.

In May an Assistant High Commissioner for Human Rights was appointed by the government. It was not clear what impact this new role would have on respect for human rights and the ability of human rights defenders to carry out their work without interference (see below).

Attacks on press freedom continued throughout the year. Individual editions of newspapers were seized when they covered issues the authorities did not wish to see publicized, and one newspaper, Mauritanie nouvelles, ceased publishing in January when it was issued with a further three-month ban just after a previous ban expired.

In late July and August at least 20 demonstrators were briefly detained after police intervened in a demonstration organized by maritime workers in Nouadhibou to protest against recruitment procedures. As a result of the use of firearms and tear gas, some 25 demonstrators and six police officers were injured. More than 20 people, including sailors, trade unionists and members of the political opposition, were reportedly arrested and held for about four days. One of those briefly held was believed to have been arrested following a complaint lodged by a police officer, which was later dropped, others were held without charge. A further demonstration calling for their release was dispersed by the security forces using excessive force which resulted in several demonstrators being injured.

Five prisoners of conscience, all human rights defenders, were sentenced to terms of imprisonment on account of their non-violent activities. In January, three human rights defenders – Boubacar Ould Messaoud, President of the non-governmental human rights organization sos- Esclaves, sos-Slaves; Maître Brahim Ould Ebetty, a prominent lawyer and member of sos- Slaves; and Professor Cheikh Saad Bouh Kamara, President of the Association mauritanienne des droits de l'homme (AMDH), Mauritanian Association for Human Rights – were arrested and were charged with running unauthorized associations. A fourth person was also charged in absentia. On 5 February, three days before their trial, an opposition party organized a demonstration to demand their release. Several demonstrators were arrested and at least five were then restricted without any charges being brought against them; they were sent into the interior of the country and required to report daily to the local authorities. On the same day, Maître Fatimata M'Baye, Vice-President of the AMDH, who was to have been one of the defence lawyers in the trial, was also arrested. The arrests appeared to have been prompted by a television program on slavery broadcast on a French language cable channel, which featured an interview with Boubacar Ould Messaoud.

On 12 February the four people in custody and a fifth who was tried in absentia were sentenced to 13 months' imprisonment. The questioning by the court focused solely on issues related to freedom of expression and association. The four people in custody lodged an appeal with the Court of Appeal which confirmed their sentences in March. However, on the day the Appeal Court announced its verdict, the five were granted presidential clemency, and the remaining restrictions on their supporters were lifted. However, the organizations which they were accused of running remained unauthorized.

Three prisoners of conscience were placed under house arrest. In December, two opposition party activists and a human rights lawyer – Ahmed Ould Daddah, President of Le Front des Partis d'Opposition (FPO), Opposition Parties Front –an umbrella group of opposition parties – and Secretary General of l'Union des Forces Démocratiques-Ere Nouvelle, Union of Democratic Forces-New Era, another party activist, and Maître Mohameden Ould Ichiddou, a lawyer, were arrested for their non-violent political activities. They were moved to the remote town of Boumdeid and denied access to lawyers and their families. They were arrested following an FPO meeting where it was alleged that the government was planning to accept Israeli nuclear waste for dumping. No formal charges were brought and the three remained under house arrest at the end of the year.

Baba Ould Sidi Abdellah, High Commissioner of the Organisation de la mise en valeur du fleuve Sénégal (OMVS), Organization for the Development of the Senegal River, was arrested in January. He was charged with treason, apparently for agreeing to the loss of some jobs for Mauritanian officials. He appeared to be a prisoner of conscience, detained because of political rivalries with the government. He was held incommunicado for 10 days and then detained at the civil prison in the capital, Nouakchott, until August when he was acquitted by the criminal court and released.

Ahmed Ould Haimed was found guilty of murder in September by the Criminal Court in Nouakchott and sentenced to death.

Amnesty International appealed to the government of President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya for the immediate release of Maître Fatimata M'Baye and the three other human rights defenders and for the ending of restrictions on those who had demonstrated to demand their release. The organization also appealed for the release of the three activists held in Boumdeid and sought assurances that they were not being ill-treated while held incommunicado.

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