First Independent Mena Newspaper
The United States has recently condemned in strong terms the imprisonment and the torture endured by anti-slavery activists in Mauritania. The US condemnation came after a court in Mauritania handed 13 members of the slavery abolitionist movement (known by its acronym IRA) sentences ranging from three to 15 years. “The United States is gravely concerned […]
The Mauritania state prosecutor Wednesday demanded 20-year prison sentence for members of the Mauritanian anti-slavery association arrested last month for “prompting armed protest in a slum of capital Nouakchott.” Thirteen people among whom 10 members of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA) have been standing trial since August 3. The defendants […]
Thirteen anti-slavery activists on trial in Mauritania said they have been tortured during their detention, their lawyers said. The activists, on trial for “rebellion and use of violence”, were arrested last month after riots in a Nouakchott slum community that was being forcibly relocated as the west African country prepared for an Arab League summit. […]
A coordinated network assault by state security forces on Sunday led to the seizure of one ton of cocaine at Nouadhibou sea port, reports say. Army coast guards, military police and police forces launched the coordinated operation at and around the port located in the city of Nouadhibou, more than 400 km north of capital […]
Climate change is taking a toll on Mauritania’s capital Nouakchott coupled with rising sea levels, lack of sanitation and rising population growth, Alex Duval Smith wrote for the Guardian from Nouakchott. “Much of the city is at or below sea level, protected from the ocean only by an eroding dune,” deplored Smith who recommended moving […]
Cheikh Baye ould Mohamed, a journalist and member of a youth movement opposed to the Mauritanian regime was handed a three-year prison sentence Thursday for hurling a shoe at the cabinet spokesperson end of last month at a weekly press briefing. The defendant’s lawyers said they would appeal the ruling they deem too harsh. Baye […]
The Mauritanian President last week indicated he never planned to change the constitution to be able to run again for elections at the end of his current mandate ending in 2019, reports say. Tension has risen since March between the opposition and the ruling party after some ministers and lawmakers suggested change of the constitution […]
Mauritanian authorities arrested last Sunday scores of anti-slavery activists on the backdrop of riots and clashes last week with security forces in Nouakchott. The riots started when security forces stormed slump dwellings occupied for decades by the Haratin ethnic group, many of them former slaves. The authorities accused the members of the Initiative for the […]
Mauritanian President has called on Washington to produce evidence of the alleged secret deal between Nouakchott and the al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) on a truce during which the terrorist group would cease abductions and militancy in Mauritania for a renewable one-year period, and in return, Mauritania would release all al Qaeda prisoners. The […]
The Mauritanian leader last week indicated he never planned to change the constitution to be able to run again for elections at the end of his current mandate coming to end in 2019. Tension has risen since March between the opposition and the ruling party after some ministers and lawmakers suggested constitutional amendments so that […]