Global Voices » Mauritania

Mauritania: Opposition Sit-in Attacked by Security Forces

Ayesha Saldanha — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:29:48 +0000

A sit-in in Nouakchott by opposition groups was violently dispersed by security forces in the early hours of May 3. It was the latest of a series of protests that have taken place in Mauritania.

Protestors, who were calling for the downfall of the military government, had erected tents and brought supplies and a water truck, intending to stay. This was the first mass sit-in organised by all opposition parties and activist and community groups.

Mauritanians have been protesting for political and economic reforms, and the end to military rule, for more than a year. The country has been described as being at boiling point.

Opposition sit-in in Nouakchott on May 2. Image by Twitter user @ahmedj85.

Online activist Anita Hunt described what happened on the morning of May 3:

After cutting off electricity and barricading the area around the sit-in with road blocks and a convoy of about 30 vehicles, a barrage of tear gas, sound grenades and water cannon rained down on the camp. Police then attacked and beat protesters as they tried to escape. Scores of people were injured and dozens arrested in clashes that continued for over two hours. The injured included the leader of one of the opposition parties; the director of another opposition leader, Ould Daddah’s office; independent radio journalists; a pregnant woman who was overcome by tear gas and developed severe breathing diffculties; and a youth with internal bleeding. The police confiscated bedding, electronics, and provisions from the camp site, and were later seen dividing up the food and drink between themselves. Whatever police couldn’t remove easily – such as tables, chairs and toilet facilities – they destroyed. There are reports that president Aziz and a security detail of the presidential guard were spotted in the vicinity while the attacks were in progress, indicating that he was personally supervising the raid. The Council of Ministers met at the presidential palace later that morning, while police launched a fresh attack on the university, arresting several students. After the Council meeting, there was no mention in the official statement regarding the massive protest or the attack.

Mauritanian blogger Ahmed Jedou wrote:

هذا الاعتصام شاركت فيه جميع أطياف المعارضة الموريتانية
من أحزاب وقوى سياسية وحركات شبابية مثل حركة 25 فبراير التي دخلت في سمر ليلي صاخب .
حيث قرضوا الشعر ورددوا شعارهم الاشهر “يسقط يسقط حكم العسكر “الذي رفعوه من أكثر من عام مع بداية الربيع العربي.

The whole spectrum of the Mauritanian opposition took part in this sit-in: all parties, political forces, youth movements such as the 25 February movement [ar] that organised a night vigil during which they recited poems and repeated their slogan of months “Down, down with military rule”, which they have been saying for more than a year since the beginning of the Arab Spring.

US-based Mauritanian activist Nasser Weddady commented:

@weddady:#موريتانيا‬‏ على الرغم من قلة عدد سكانها قطعت أشواطاً بعيدة في الحراك الشعبي إذ أنها شهدت ميلاد حركات إحتجاجية في سنة.إنجاز قياسي بكل المعايير

@weddady:#Mauritania ‬despite its small population has made great strides in popular mobilisation, as it has witnessed the birth of protest movements in a year. Record achievement by any standard

He added:

@weddady: Now, we will see how the opposition will react to the mass beating. As usual, don't expect much on any of this in world media.

This video [ar], uploaded by ahmedj85, shows the sit-in on May 2:

The following video [ar], uploaded by alaakhbarinfo, shows the sit-in being attacked in the early morning of May 3:

Mauritania: The Face of Modern Day Slavery

Ndesanjo Macha — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 12:13:12 +0000

Although Mauritania officially abolished slavery in 1981 and made the practice a crime in 2007, slavery is still a common phenomenon in the country. A CNN special report titled “Slavery's last stronghold” reveals that an estimated 10% to 20% of the population lives in slavery and there has been only one conviction since the practice was outlawed in 2007.

The government of Mauritania, a country in the Maghreb in West Africa, usually denies the existence of slavery in the country.

Responding to the CNN's special report, Erin Pettigrew, a Mauritania expert, explains the complexity of the problem:

Slave traders in Gorée, Senegal, 18th century. Image by Jacques Grasset de Saint-Sauveur (Public Domain).

I’ve been working in Mauritania on and off for the past eight years and this issue of ‘slavery’ is still one I am struggling to fully understand. I certainly cringe every time I see a young black child working in someone’s home, whether they be Black or Arab, in Mauritania and these relationships of work and pay are rarely clear to me. Likewise, one’s clan and lineage affiliations are sometimes difficult to sort out and this is what people use most to justify the history and current reality of exploitative labor practices. The extreme economic inequalities in Mauritania play a large part in the preservation of these relationships. And the role of government and then outside intervention in all of this? Here, I am very hesitant to comment.

After reading CNN's report, Abby asked her friend about slavery in Mauritania. This was his response:

The documentary certainly misrepresented a lot. Nothing they said was factually incorrect but they highlighted a few abuses, ignored a lot of context and made it seem a lot worse than it is. Many white moor families had a black moor family that “belonged to them.” They would cook and do chores etc and while, I'm sure there were many cases of abuses, the system functioned because of lack of economic alternatives, not cruelty. No industries economically benefited from slavery. That was all mentioned but certainly not emphasized in the documentary probably because the reporters spent a total of 8 days in Mauritania. PC Mauritania was hard because it was a poor country without a lot of luxuries but in some ways it was easier than Morocco. People were welcoming and had fewer preconceived notions based on tourism. Harassment was lower and communities were closer. Mauritania has a host of serious problems, corrupt government, desertification, lack of water/enough wells, poor education system etc. Slavery will go away when those problems are fixed not when CNN airs a poorly made documentary.

How and wy slavery still exists in Mauritania? Steve Davis explains:

The country supposedly abolish slavery in 1981. Yes that’s right 1981! However, it is still widely practiced, even though the government denies it exists. In fact the nation only made slavery a crime in 2007. How and why does slavery still exist in 2012? Here are some reasons,
the government does little to discourage it.

it is difficult to enforce laws because the country is huge and largely empty in the Sahara Desert. local Islamic leaders (imams) speak openly in favor of slavery.

racism is rampant, lighter-skinned people have historically owned darker-skinned people in the country. The “White Moors” are a light-skinned Berber people who speak Arabic. They are the power class in the country and have traditionally owned slaves. The “Black Moors” are darker-skinned people who also speak Arabic. They have historically been enslaved by the White Moors.

the population is poorly educated. Most slaves don’t even understand they are enslaved. to most of Mauritania’s slaves the idea of being owned and treated as property is normal and has been for centuries.

Progress4 Women wonders if this is a situation of “out of sight, out of mind”:

Maybe it is because the average person has not even heard of this country that this blatant injustice is not current news – they are indeed out of sight and out of mind right?? These slaves are people that are deserving of ALL basic human rights especially freedom. Kevin Bales said that “Slavery is theft — theft of a life, theft of work, theft of any property or produce, theft even of the children a slave might have borne.” – and he is correct. These men, women and children are in bondage both physically and psychologically. Their minds are not filled with hopes and dreams, but rather thoughts of oppression and strife.

I knew that slavery still existed under new headlines of prostitution and child labor etc. (because categorizing it into neater columns makes us feel better), but the era in which governments turned a blind eye (and in which Mauritania falls), I truly thought that time had passed. Regardless of how we try to soften the blow with our sophisticated euphemisms – as long as people are thought of as property, slavery exists!!

Recently, two sisters escaped from their master walking across the Sahara desert. Lissnup blogs about their ordeal:

With the help of a Tuareg nomad, they headed first toward Bassikounou and after two days, travelling at night to avoid detection and the risk of being forcibly returned, eventually reached Néma. At the age most girls are concerned with passing their school diploma, 14 year old Selama Mint Mbarek is already the mother of a son, born to her after being raped while serving as a farm hand for her former owner. Her younger sister, just 10 years old, has never experienced the inncocence of childhood, and was regularly beaten by her master. It was after one of these corporal punishments that the two little girls fled. Even so, Selama had to convince her sister that running away was worth the risk. Despite the perils of the journey ahead, Selama brought her child with her. According to the heartbreaking testimonies they delivered to the press, their master is still holding their aunt, brothers and cousins under his yoke.

Ahmed notes that these kinds of stories are “a drop in the sea” and that the government in Mauritania keeps turning a bling eye:

These stories are only a drop in the sea, for in Mauritania Anti-Slavery Organizations continue to uncover cases of slavery but the government keeps turning a blind eye. No clear programs are put in place to rescue the enslaved from their misery, nor to better the conditions of the previously enslaved who suffer under the heavy foot of poverty, illiteracy, and deprivation. Human rights activists who uncover cases of slavery are subject to continuous harassment and imprisonment and the last example is the arrest of activist in the east of Mauritania and putting them in the worst conditions where a leaked picture showed one of them stripped naked and tied in one of the places they were held in

In June 2011, Aconerly wrote a piece titled “Beyond Abolition: Ending Slavery in Mauritania”:

Slaves in Mauritania do not have a legal right to own property, let alone have a surname. Nor do they have a right to custody of their children. The 2007 law criminalizing the ownership of slaves was received with resistance and scoffing. The director of the Mauritanian government‘s Human Right Commission, Bamariam Koita even defended the fact that as of yet, no one had been prosecuted under the law. He argued that there are no chains and slave markets, and 1981 law that abolished slavery invalidates any argument that slavery exists in Mauritania. However, Mr. Koita painted a simplistic picture of slavery. In the 2007 article entitled „Slavery Past and Present,“ one man, Mohamed- he gave no surname because he was a slave- countered the director‘s statements by listing the members of his family who were enslaved. A slave‘s chains are socio-economic and generational in nature. The fact remains that a centuries-old tradition of master-slave relations whereby the dominant „white Moors“ (or Arabs) exist in superior positions to the Black Africans who lived in intergenerational slavery bolstered by undereducation and economic disenfranchisement.

Here is a sample of tweets about slavery in Mauritania:

@Munns: For a country like Mauritania to not acknowledge slavery and all the abuse the people endure is definitely going against the deen [religion].

@RedTopShwty: Slavery still exists in the country of Mauritania…. That's awful. Wish there was something I could do about it

‏ @Stef_Muller: @khanyisile There's slavery everywhere, I guess the diff is it's legal in Mauritania (can't read the article).

A UN Special Rapporteur led a mission to Mauritania in 2009 to evaluate slavery practices in the country. Other human rights issues in Mauritania include female genital mutilation, child labour, and human trafficking.

Mauritania: The Plight of Two Slave Girls

Ndesanjo Macha — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:46:56 +0000

Read Lissnup's blog post titled “Mauritania Slavery: The torment of Selama and Maimouna”: “At the age most girls are concerned with passing their school diploma, 14 year old Selama Mint Mbarek is already the mother of a son, born to her after being raped while serving as a farm hand for her former owner. Her younger sister, just 10 years old, has never experienced the inncocence of childhood, and was regularly beaten by her master.”

Mali: An Introduction to the Tuareg Population

Abdoulaye Bah — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:06:12 +0000

The blog of the Tuareg movement Temoust Survie publishes a post (via information from l'Express [fr]) that provides [fr] a brief introduction to the Tuareg culture : “we are a nomadic people living from farming and trade. The Tuaregs are estimated to be about 1.5 million in a region that spans across Mali, Niger, Algeria, but also Libya, Burkina Faso and Mauritania. The common language Tamashek is related to the Berber language. With the Ethiopian population, the Tuaregs are one of the few African people with their own calligraphy. The distinguishing features of the Tuareg clothing are the indigo veil they wear hence their nickname “the men in blue”.

Mauritania: Complex Problem of Slavery

Ndesanjo Macha — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:59:34 +0000

Erin Pettigrew discusses the complex problem of slavery in Mauritania: “I’ve been working in Mauritania on and off for the past eight years and this issue of ‘slavery’ is still one I am struggling to fully understand. I certainly cringe every time I see a young black child working in someone’s home, whether they be Black or Arab, in Mauritania and these relationships of work and pay are rarely clear to me.”

Mauritania: “Facebook is at the Center of the New E-Dissent”

Joel Gilbourd — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:03:19 +0000

[This interview was conducted in French]

Nasser Weddady is Mauritanian and lives in the United States (US). Since the Tunisian revolution, those who follow North-African/Middle Eastern current affairs on Twitter know him by his username – the very influential and widely followed @weddady, who is about to publish in the US, a book of reflections and testimonies on the Arabic-speaking world and its uprisings.

But what about the citizen media of Weddady’s own country, Mauritania, where the Arab Spring also catalysed dissent? The following interview was conducted during a conference in Tunis, Tunisia.

Nasser Weddady, at radio tunisienne studio, Tunis, October 2011 - Photo courtesy of Carribeanfreephoto (CC BY)

Global Voices (GV): Even though the country and its 3 million inhabitants are often left out of the picture, Mauritania is also experiencing protests and rising dissent.

Nasser Weddady (NW): The dissent reflects a deep unrest in Mauritania, a feeling of powerlessness that is increasingly transforming itself into “e-anger” and street protests. This culture of dissent had been dead for two decades; today, however, strikes are happening on a day-to-day basis, in all sectors. Each of these actions in itself might seem trivial from the outside, but Mauritania is actually at boiling point. As for social media, in Mauritania, it’s currently happening through Facebook, which had 34,000 members in Mauritania in late 2011 – a remarkable figure for a country with low rates of Internet access. There was also actually a Mauritanian blogosphere but this was undermined by the 2008 coup. Apart from ‘Canal H’ [fr] – which is a discussion blog and which remains a barometer of public opinion – the blog is no longer really the format that corresponds to the evolution of the Mauritanian blogosphere. It's Facebook. We see that more and more youth movements, such as the protesters of 25 February, 2011, who took to the streets in large numbers, were originally born on Facebook. Facebook is at the center of the new e-dissent.

Photo from the Takadoumi website - the February 2011 protests in Nouakchott

GV: Which Facebook pages, blogs and Twitter accounts should we follow with regard to Mauritanian current affairs?

NW: On Facebook, the page of the 25 February movement [ar, fr], which backed the February 2011 protests, Mauritanie Demain (Mauritania Tomorrow) [ar, fr], Touche pas à ma nationalité (Hands off my nationality) [fr], which protests against the ethnic discrimination that took place during the census, the ‘Journal Facebook' private group, which has over 10,000 members, the Takadoumi.com blog [in Arabic, French and English]. On Twitter, you can follow @Tahabib, who is a French-speaker, the two bloggers Ahmed Jiddou (@Ahmedj85 [ar]) and Mohamed Abdou (@Medabdou [ar]), and Dedda Cheikh Brahim (@Dedda04) [mainly in Arabic].

Mauritanian dissident humor: "The best cologne these days is tear gas" Photo-reel from the "Mauritanie Demain' Facebook page

GV: How would you assess Mauritanian Internet activism relative to the other online movements of the Arab-speaking world?

NW: Young Mauritanians have seen how the Internet has been used elsewhere in the Arab world and are trying to get connected, to learn the techniques of Internet activism and to share them. We are seeing more and more Photoshop graphics, banners, videos. The transformation of the Mauritanian web is clearly the product of the Arab revolts. We are also seeing more and more Mauritanians on Twitter – that’s my pet project. Twitter is important because it's fast and because it's an open network, unlike Facebook. It lets Africans and Mauritanians get in contact, because we also have that dimension to Mauritania: you look to Sub-Saharan Africa just as much you do to the Arab world.

GV: Has the government put in place any surveillance or censorship measures?

NW: We had the case of Hanevy Ould Dahah who was arrested and sentenced to two years imprisonment because of his website, which was a thorn in the side of the government. As for censorship, they tried for a day and it wasn't effective. But it is clear that, more and more, “they” are getting worried. There are Morocan and Sudanese telecommunications companies in Mauritania, it's not difficult to imagine a scenario where the regime would buy censorship know-how from international experts.

GV: Following the Tunisian revolution, you were able to meet, face-to-face, the Internet activists of all of the Arab countries. How would you describe their current state of mind?

NW: The Internet activists have done an outstanding job, and I particularly salute the Libyans and the Syrians, their incredible courage and creativity, the Tunisians, who are the masters in the field, and the friends of Bahrain. We feel, at once, a sense of success that ended a general depression – caused by the stagnation of the Arab world, by the bolted-on authoritarian regimes – together with the feeling of having done something historic; and anxiety, because we realize that the counter-revolution is under way, and that the international community, which has praised the Arab revolutions so much, could once again accommodate new powers that do not measure up to our current expectations. But nevertheless, there is a sense of regained pride because, since September 2001, being Arab and Muslim was a heavy burden. We regained our own self-respect because we achieved something historical and we did not wait for anyone to tell us how to achieve it.

Mauritania: Last Hope March to Nouakchott Begins

Amira Al Hussaini — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 16:37:55 +0000

Mauritanian activists have embarked on a 470 kilometre journey on foot, from the city of Nouadhibou to the capital Nouakchott, carrying a number of economic and political demands to the authorities. It is called The March of Last Hope and aims to draw attention to the woes of Mauritanians and their demands for reform.

Blogger Ahmed Jedou blogs [ar] about the march, saying a number of activists, including bloggers, unionists, teachers and those who have been sacked from their jobs, have joined it. The march, he writes, is expected to reach Nouakchott by the middle of March, if not earlier.

Activists at the beginning of the 470km march. Photo credit: Ahmed Jedou

Among the marchers demands are:

ضمان الحد الأدنى لحرية التعبير السلمي للناشطين بالمدينة.
2- فتح حوار مباشر و جاد مع السلطات العليا للبلد لوضع حد نهائي لمعاناة مواطني أحياء الترحيل( الجديدة و أحزمة البؤس) بحيث يضمن تسوية موضوعية للسكن و التموين تليق بالمدينة كعاصمة اقتصادية و قطب للتنمية.
3- نطالب بتسهيل دمج المهنيين الشباب في القطاعات ذات الصلة، انطلاقا من التزايد الطردي للمواقع الشاغرة في الإدارات و المؤسسات الجهوية و المركزية العمومية منذ عدة سنين في مختلف هذه القطاعات مثل: قطاعات الصيد و المعادن و المتواجدة بالعشرات، و الناتجة عن تقاعد الموظفين و انتشار العقدويين و الطابور الثالث داخل هذه المؤسسات، رغم رفع السن القانونية اللازمة لولوج الوظيفة العمومية إلي 40 سنة و تواجد الطاقات الشبابية المؤهلة لذلك.
4- نطالب بإعلان الحكومة عن زيادة معتبرة في الأجور في القطاعين العام والخاص لتخفيف وطأة الغلاء المعيشي للطبقة النشطة

1. Guaranteeing minimum levels of freedom of peaceful expression for activists in the city
2. Starting a direct and serious dialogue with the higher authorities to put an end to the suffering of citizens in neighbourhoods the government claimed will be relocated to better places. The dialogue should come up with an objective settlement for dwellings and services, which befit a city which is an economic capital and a development hub.
3. We call upon integrating trained youth in areas of their expertise, to fill increasing vacancies in various sectors, such as fisheries and minerals, which have resulted from the retirement of employees
4. We demand an increase in the wages of the public and private sectors to decrease the burden of living expenses on the working class

Other demands included cleaning up the streets from piles of garbage and granting land to unemployed youth with university degrees to enable them to start their own businesses.

Like their counterparts across the Arab world, Mauritanian activists have been protesting Arab Spring-like for political and economic reforms for almost a year.

Sahel: Islamic Fundamentalist Organisations Tighten Their Grip

Theodora Rowlands — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:16:29 +0000

[All links to articles in French unless stated otherwise]

For a few months now, two religious Islamic fundamentalist organisations, Boko Haram and AQIM (Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb), have intensified their war against the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the surrounding nations.

On December 25, 2011, Boko Haram coordinated explosions against Christians [en], including one at a church near Abuja that killed at least 37 people. On December 12, an AQIM offshoot calling itself Jamat Tawhid wal Jihad fi Garbi Afriqqiya (Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa - MOJWA) released a video [en] of three abducted European aid workers in Algeria.

These religious groups are attempting to spread their activities into countries of the Sahel region. The regional blogosphere has quickly reacted to recent attacks showing concern and providing thorough analyses.

Boko Haram recruits arrested by police forces in Biafra. Photo posted to yfrog by @tianmine

Philippe Hugon's post, published on the Grotius website, provides one of the cause of the increasingly perilous tension threatening Nigeria's unity:

Dans la capitale de l’État des plateaux, à Jos, les conflits opposent ainsi les Fulani musulmans aux Berom chrétiens, deux populations qui disposent de droits différents. Quant aux mouvances islamiques du Nord, elles sont plurielles (soufisme des confréries traditionnelles, mouvements salafiste, maadhistes et chiites) avec 12 États (sur 36) qui ont instauré la charia.

In Jos, the administrative capital city of the Plateau State, the conflicts are between the Muslim Fulani and the Christian Berom, two group of populations who have different sets of rights. There are various Islamic cultures in the North with different influences (traditional brotherhood of Sufism, Salafist movement, Madhist and Shiites) and with 12 states (out of 36) that have introduced sharia law.

According to the author, far from becoming weaker, the movement is growing and presents serious cause for concern:

La question la plus importante, en raison des bouleversements intervenus en Libye, est à présent la prolifération de la nébuleuse AQMI. Le mouvement anti occidental Boko Haram, apparu après le 11 septembre 2001, localisé dans l’État de Borno développe désormais le djihadisme ; il s’est scindé en plusieurs branches dont l’une est proche des Chebabs de Somalie et d’Aqmi. Or par sa radicalisation et ses actions violentes, il favorise un clivage religieux engendrant un engrenage des violences, des représailles et de la répression.

The most important issue right now, owing to the disruptions that took place in Libya, is the proliferation of the nebulous AQMI. The anti-western movement, Boko Haram, that surfaced after September 11, 2001, confined in the state of Borno, has henceforth adopted jihad; it is divided into many branches, one of which has ties to the Chebabs of Somalia and AQMI. Through violent and radical actions, this group promotes religious splits causing a spiral of violence, repression and retaliation.

On January 26, 2012, the United Nations published a report by a team that travelled to many of the Sahel countries, in order to investigate the local impact of the civil war in Libya. According to this report, armed groups such as the Boko Haram sect in Nigeria and AQMI would have had access to a dangerous arms cache.

Antoine Barbizon, wrote a post on the subject, on the Geo Tribune blog saying the following:

Les gouvernements et responsables des États dans lesquels s’est rendue l’équipe d’évaluation de l’ONU ont communiqué les informations en leur possession selon lesquelles de grandes quantités d’armes en provenance de Libye seraient parvenues illégalement dans de nombreux pays du Sahel. Livré clandestinement par d’anciens combattants de Libye, des soldats et des mercenaires à la solde du Colonel Mouammar Kadhafi, cet arsenal comprendrait des lance-grenades, des mitrailleuses avec visée inti-aérienne, des fusils automatiques, des munitions, des grenades, des explosifs ainsi que de l’artillerie légère montée sur véhicules. Ces armes seraient cachées dans le désert et une partie d’entre elles vendues aux groupes terroristes. Le rapport de l’équipe de l’ONU évoque également l’inquiétante perspective d’un rapprochement entre Boko Haram et AQMI, les deux groupes ayant décidé d’étendre leurs actions au-delà de leurs périmètres actuels.

The governments and officials of the states that were visited by the evaluating United Nations team provided information they had in their possession, that large quantities of weapons from Libya would have entered illegally in many Sahel countries. Smuggled by ex-Libyan fighters, soldiers and mercenaries of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, this arsenal included grenade launchers, anti-aircraft machine guns, automatic rifles, ammunition, grenades, explosives, as well as light artillery mounted vehicles. These weapons were hidden in the desert and some of them were sold to terrorist groups. The United Nations report highlights the troubling prospect of a rapprochement between Boko Haram and AQMI, the two groups having decided to expand their actions beyond their current perimeters.

The people of neighbouring Sahel countries are expressing their fear about the situation and the risks of overflow. In Cameroon, many Internet surfers are reporting a dangerous evolution. Elizabeth Kendal writes in her blog [en]:

Garga Aoudou, a community activist with a Dutch development organization, told IPS that Garoua has been “literally inundated with fliers inciting Muslims towards a hatred of Christians”. Aoudou continues, “Religious fanatics exhort Muslims to increase the number of marriages between young Muslim men and Christian girls in order to convert them to Islam, to refuse to rent houses or sell land to Christians - or to get them to move by raising the rent”.

On the blog sanfinna.com, Jean Baptiste Naudet writes:

C’est l’un des pires cauchemars des services de renseignement. Et il est en train de se matérialiser. Au Nigeria, la secte islamiste Boko Haram (ce qui signifie « l’éducation occidentale est un péché » en haoussa) est en train non seulement de monter en puissance et de se radicaliser, mais surtout de devenir un centre puissant de l’arc du terrorisme qui va de la Mauritanie à la Somalie.

….Lors des attaques régulièrement lancées par la secte contre des commissariats, des églises ou des prisons dans le nord, les morts se comptent par centaines. Outre la montée de la violence, le développement de la nébuleuse terroriste d’Al-Qaida hors du Sahel inquiète car il correspond au retour des combattants subsahariens (pro-Kadhaf) de Libye, ainsi qu’à l’arrivée d’armes lourdes en provenance des arsenaux pillés de ce pays.

It's one of the worst nightmares of intelligence agencies and it is being carried out. In Nigeria, the Islamic sect Boko Haram (meaning “western education is a sin”, in Hausa language) is not only increasing in power and becoming more radical but is also becoming a powerful centre for terrorism, extending from Mauritania to Somalia.

..During the frequent attacks launched by the sect in the north, against police, churches and prisons, hundreds are left for dead. In addition to the escalation in violence, the development of the nebulous terrorism of Al Quaida outside of the Sahel is of great concern, as it corresponds to the return of Sub-Saharan Libyan fighters (pro-Gaddafi) as well as the arrival of heavy weapons from this country's arsenal.

The Mautitanian site noorinfo.com writes:

La Mauritanie, l'Algérie, le Niger et le Mali sont confrontés à une insécurité croissante liée aux activités d'Aqmi et d'autres groupes criminels, ainsi qu'à l'afflux d'armes, dont de l'armement lourd, issues du conflit libyen.

Mauritania, Algeria, Niger and Mali are confronted with a growing sense of insecurity linked to the activities of AQMI and other criminal groups, as well as to the influx of weapons and heavy armament stemming from the Libyan conflict.

Muslims understand that they too are hostages and that violence towards Christians, is also of concern to them and that they must be involved in preventing it. In an interview on the camer.be site, Ernest Djonga, regional president of the Islamic Youth of the North group, explained the measures taken thus far by his movement and by the Muslim religious authorities, in order to confront the challenge posed by the presence of Bako Haram in the North of Cameroon.

Voyant le danger venir, nous avons sollicité l’intervention du Lamido [la plus haute autorité traditionnelle] de l’époque, le regretté Ibrahim Abbo, qui avait pris des dispositions fortes en réglementant la fonction de prédicateur et au niveau de la Jeunesse islamique du Cameroun, nous nous sommes attelés à superviser les différents thèmes à développer dans les 19 mosquées … [de] la ville de Garoua. Cette méthode s’est pérennisée sous le règne de sa majesté Alim Garga Hayatou. Des garde-fous ainsi posés nous ont permis de sélectionner les prédicateurs certifiés et agréés.

Seeing the danger approaching, we solicited Lamido's intervention (the highest traditional authority) the late lamented Ibrahim Abbo who took strong measures in controlling the preachers' duties. At the level of the Islamic Youth of Cameroon, we got down to work, supervising the different themes to be developed in 19 mosques in the town of Garoua. This method was perpetuated under the reign of his majesty Alim Garga Hayatou. Safeguards that were installed, allowed us to select registered, certified preachers.

It is in this context that old ancestral conflicts that had simmered are now re-awakening, such as in the North of Mali where thousands of people were obliged to flee their village to take refuge in neighbouring countries.

The temoust.org site, Tuareg Survie, published a communique on the conflict, indicating that:

Au moins 30 000 personnes sont déplacées au Mali et vivent dans des conditions extrêmement précaires, à la suite des combats opposant l’armée malienne à des groupes armés dans le nord du pays depuis la mi-janvier. Le CICR porte assistance à des milliers d’entre elles, ainsi qu’à 15 000 autres déplacés au Niger voisin. Il a également pu visiter des détenus et soigner des blessés au Mali.

At least 30,000 people have been displaced in Mali and are living in extremely precarious conditions, due to fighting since mid-January, between the Mali army and armed groups North of the country. CICR is assisting thousands among them, as well as 15,000 others that were displaced in neighbouring Niger. The organization was also able to visit detainees and to care for the wounded in Mali.

Sahel Region: 1.6 Million Children at Risk of Malnutrition

Lova Rakotomalala — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:11:31 +0000

Afrik.com reports that [fr]: ” because of the low harvest and an increase of 60 to 80 % in cereal pricing, 10 millions people across Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Chad will be affected by food security issues, including 1.6 million children.”

Mauritania: Terror Grips Town

Ndesanjo Macha — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 12:28:54 +0000

Terror grips city of Kiffa in Mauritania: “Poet and filmmaker Mohamed Ould Idoumou, a Kiffa native, told Magharebia that that the city has never seen cases of terrorism before because of its isolated location in the desert.”

Mauritania: Earth's Bulls Eye

Amira Al Hussaini — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 10:53:14 +0000

Algerian-American Kal, or The Moor Next Door, shares this interesting geographical tidbit about Mauritania: “f readers ever get into space, they may find themselves looking for Mauritania, or its enormous Richat Structure, sometimes called ‘Earth’s Bulls-Eye.’”

Mauritania: Bloggers Call for the Boycott of Government-Sponsored Conference

Hisham Almiraat — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 07:48:51 +0000

Mauritanian media has reported [ar] this week that the country's authorities are preparing a major meeting in the capital Nouakchott of prominent Arab bloggers and activists. The gathering, which will take place from 25 to 28 December, will be featuring “major bloggers who played a significant role in the revolutions against dictatorships in their countries.”

The Mauritanian newspaper El Mohit [ar] explains that President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is overseeing preparations for the meeting and has appointed senior officials to ensure the organisation of the event.

President Ould Abdel Aziz is a high-ranking military officer, who came to power in August 2008 following a coup that toppled then-President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi.

February 25 Movement Rally - Picture by Dedda Ould Cheikh Brahim

The announcement of the meeting comes less then two months after local independent bloggers and members of the pro-democracy February 25 Movement were forced to cancel a similar gathering in Zouerat, northern Mauritania. The website, Mauri-Culture, reports [ar] that bloggers had experienced administrative “harassment” at the hands of the authorities and were forced to postpone their meeting to “avoid a confrontation with the regime.”

On Tuesday, Mauritanian bloggers reacted to the announcement of the upcoming government-sponsored conference by publishing an open letter to fellow Arab netizens and activists asking them not to attend.

Ahmed Ould Jedou is among many other Mauritanian bloggers who published [ar] the open letter. Following is the translation of excerpts of the document:

قبل شهرين أعلن عن تنظيم “اللقاء الوطني حول تقنيات التواصل الاجتماعي “,في مدينة “الزويرات “الموريتانية و,الذي كان يهدف المنظمين من خلاله إلى ربط الصلاة بين النشطاء العرب وإخوتهم الموريتانيين لتبادل الخبرات
[…]
إلا أن النظام العسكري في موريتانيا قام بمنع تنظيم هذا اللقاء رغم أن الهيئة التي دعت له مرخص لها لدى السلطات الموريتانية ولم يبدى النظام أي تبرير إلا أنه يعترض على مشاركة بعض النشطاء الموريتانيين في هذا الملتقى .
واليوم توجد أخبار عن عزم النظام العسكري في موريتانيا على تنظيم ملتقى شبابي سياسي يحضره بعض نجوم الربيع العربي.
ولهذا نوجه رسالة إلى كل المدونين, والنشطاء العرب مفادها أنه عليهم أن لا يشاركوا في هذا النشاط الذي يحاول هذا النظام العسكري القمعي تجميل صورته به ,فهذا النظام وقف ضد الثورات العربية فدعم القذافي حتى بعد سقوطه دعمه باستماتة ودعم بشار وبعث له رئيس وزرائهم ليؤكد وقوفه معه في حربه ضد شعبه .
وهذا النظام يقمع التظاهرات السلمية في موريتانيا فقد قمع مظاهرات حركة 25 فبراير وقتل أحد نشطاء حركة “لاتلمس جنسيتي”,ومازال يقمع كل التحركات السلمية ويحرم الموريتانيين من حقهم في التظاهر ,ويضيق على النشطاء الحقوقيين .
وهذا النظام حرم الشعب الموريتاني من تجربته الديمقراطية الوليدة التي أبهرت العالم فقام رأسه بإزاحة أول رئيس مدني منتخب في موريتانيا .
لذالك نرجوا من كل أصحاب الضمائر الحية من” المدونين” و”لنشطاء” العرب عدم المشاركة في هذا الملتقي كي لا يجملوا وجه نظام عسكري قبيح ويشاركوا في قمع شعب مقهور .
المدونون الموريتانيون

Two months ago, the “National Conference on Social Media Techniques” announced the organization of a meeting in the city of Zouerat. It was aimed at bringing together Arab activists and their Mauritanian counterparts in order to exchange experiences […]

However, the military regime in Mauritania blocked the organization of the meeting, despite the fact that the organizers had met all legal requirements. No justifications were given by the regime as to why it didn't allow the event to take place other than the fact it was opposed to the participation of some Mauritanians activists.

Today, we learn that the military regime in Mauritania is organizing a political meeting and inviting the young and most active stars of the Arab Spring […]

That is why we are sending this message to all Arab bloggers and activists to tell them that they should not participate in this event, which is an attempt by this repressive, military regime to embellish its image. This regime has stood against Arab revolutions, in support of Gaddafi [in Libya]. It has supported Bashar [al-Assad in Syria], sending him the Prime Minister in a show of support for his war against his own people.

This regime is suppressing peaceful demonstrations in Mauritania. It has suppressed demonstrations led by the February 25 pro-democracy movement. It has killed an activist from the “Touche pas à ma nationalité” movement [an anti-racism group created following the exclusion of black Mauritanians from a national census]. It has repressed all non-violent movements, has deprived Mauritanians of their right to demonstrate, and is constantly harassing human rights activists.

This regime has deprived the Mauritanian people of their nascent democracy. It has toppled the first elected civilian president of Mauritania [Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi in 2008].

This is why we are calling upon all people of conscience among Arab bloggers and activists: do not participate in this meeting; do not help the military regime embellish its face; do not take part in the repression of an oppressed people.

Mauritanian bloggers.

Sahel Region: Slavery still very much a Reality for Some

Vivienne Griffiths — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:30:45 +0000

In an interview carried out by François Mauger with Mme Sophia Lakhdar [fr], Director of the Comité Contre l’Esclavage Moderne (Comittee Against Modern Slavery) published on the mondomix.com blog, she states: “Today human trafficking has taken over as the notion of modern slavery, which is a bit contrived. However it helps raise awareness and mobilize public opinion in the 1990's. That does not mean that in certain countries slavery no longer exists. I am thinking most notably of Mauritania, Sudan and Niger”

Mauritania: Black Mauritanians Fear for their Citizenship as Census Proceeds

Lova Rakotomalala — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 08:24:29 +0000

Bakari Guèye in Magharebia reports that the city of Kaedi erupted into violence on September 24 and 30, 2011, because the black community feared that the census would be used as a discriminatory tool to relegate them to second class citizen status. Babacar Justin Ndiaye explains that only Black Mauritanians are asked to produce documentation [fr] that would justify their Mauritanian citizenship.

Mauritania: 13 Activists against Child Trafficking Arrested

Lova Rakotomalala — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:59:44 +0000

Four advocacy organizations against human trafficking note that a peaceful sit-in outside the Bureau of juvenile affairs was organized [fr] by l’Initiative pour la Résurgence du mouvement Abolitionniste (Ira) to denounce the insufficient measures taken against child trafficking in Mauritania. 13 members of the association were arrested following the protest.