Mauritania - Latest Publications

MRT - News

Mauritania: 7 Independent UN Experts Call for IRA Activists Rights

MRT - News | 20 October 2016

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".

Mauritania: Anti-Slavery Activists Sentenced to 3 to 15 Years Imprisonment

MRT - News | 10 October 2016

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, Jemal Beylil, Ousmane Anne, Ousmane, Abdallahi Matallah Seck, Moussa Biram, Abdallahi Abou Diop et Mohamed Jaroullah.

Mauritania: Malian National Sentenced to Death Following Unfair Trial

MRT - News | 10 October 2016

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.

Mauritania: New wave of reprisals against IRA anti-slavery activists

MRT - News | 28 July 2016

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 21 July 2016, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders (SR HRD) Michel Forst to solicit his urgent intervention with the Mauritanian authorities to ensure the immediate release of the aforementioned activists and drop all charges against them.

Mauritania: Universal Periodic Review Reveals that Authorities Must Move from Talk to Action

MRT - News | 12 November 2015

On 3 November 2015, Alkarama attended the second cycle of Mauritania's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) held at the Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva. Mauritania's Minister of Justice, Brahim Ould Daddah, defended their second national report before the United Nations' Member States and discussed major human rights advancements undertaken by the authorities since 2010. The Minister also answered to numerous recommendations made by several States that focused on the abolition of the death penalty and the practice of torture in detention, as well as the persistence of slavery.

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Mauritania - HR Instruments

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

ICCPR: Accessed on 17.11.2004
Optional Protocol: No

State report: Due on 01.11.2017 (2nd)
Last concluding observations: 20.11.2013

Convention against Torture (CAT)

CAT: Accessed on 17.11.2004
Optional Protocol: Yes
Art. 20 (Confidential inquiry): No
Art. 22 (Individual communications): No

State report: Due on 31.05.2017 (2nd)
Last concluding observations: 18.06.2013

International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED)

CED: Ratified on 03.10.2012
Art. 33 (Inquiry procedure): Yes

State report: Overdue since 03.11.2014
Last concluding observations: N/A

Universal Periodic Review (UPR)

Last review: 11.2010 (1st cycle)
Next review: 2015 (2nd cycle)

National Human Rights Institution (NHRI)

Commission Nationale des Droits de l'Homme (CNDH) – Status A

Last review: 05.2011
Next review: 2016