As a party to several Conventions, including to the Optional Protocol (OPCAT) to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) and the Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICCPED) – two international legal instruments which the State ratified in October 2012 – Mauritania is bound by a series of obligations under international human rights law. Nonetheless, despite having translated some of these commitments into domestic law, the State has yet to take concrete steps to translate them into reality.

Torture

Although Mauritania had agreed – during its last UPR in November 2010 – to take concrete measures to "end torture and inhuman and degrading treatment, and ensure that allegations of torture, ill-treatment or excessive use of force by police and security forces are investigated, prosecuted and convicted in line with international standards," the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) expressed serious concerns – during their last review of the State on 18 June 2013 – over Mauritania's legal framework, which, in its current form, remains conducive to the practice of torture.

In particular, the Experts of the CAT raised the fact that, "over eight years after becoming a party to the Convention, the State party has still not incorporated a provision into its criminal legislation that explicitly defines and penalizes torture as a specific criminal offence;" and that "although the delegation of the State party stated orally that a new law adopted in March 2013 would criminalize torture and slavery in its first article and establish both offences as crimes against humanity, the Committee is concerned that a legal void conducive to impunity might continue to exist if the above-mentioned law is not promulgated."

Moreover, by ratifying the OPCAT on 3 October 2012, Mauritania committed to establish a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) charged with monitoring detention centres within a year of its ratification. Almost a year and a half later, however, this mechanism has not yet been set up. Besides, if the authorities were to entrust this mission, as announced on 30 April 2014, to the National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) – the Mauritanian National Human Rights Institution (NHRI), which lacks independence from the Executive – the NCHR would have to fully comply with the Paris Principles regulating the status of NHRIs.

On 26 February 2015, the Minister of Justice stated, following the adoption by the Government of the Law on the establishment of a national preventive mechanism, that Mauritania would soon create its NPM, thus becoming the second country in the Middle East-North Africa region to have formed one. The law still needs to be adopted by Parliament in order to enter into force.

Deplorable conditions of detention and arbitrary detention

Conditions of detention also remain a major issue, with the overcrowding of the prison system, malnutrition and the general lack of access to medical care. One example of this is the Nouadhibou prison, where the prisoners organise themselves to sleep in shifts; or the case of Maarouf Ould Al Hiba, a 33-year-old who allegedly died on 12 May 2014 for not receiving the medical care he needed.

Many people are also held arbitrarily, with arbitrary detention taking several forms in Mauritania. The duration of police custody and pre-trial detention, for instance, are often extended beyond the legal timeframes; or persons acquitted by judicial proceedings or having served their sentence are kept in detention.

Death penalty

Despite a de facto moratorium on the death penalty since 2007, the capital punishment remains a sentence provided by the Penal Code and is still pronounced by courts, including for minors. Several death sentences have been handed down in recent years, the latest of which on 24 December 2014, against Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mohamed for apostasy.

Although the last execution was carried out in 1987, it is important to note that the death penalty is increasingly viewed as torture, as the Special Rapporteur on Torture (SRT), Juan E. Mendéz said when presenting his report to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on 23 October 2012, expressing particular concern about the "death row phenomenon", which includes "a combination of circumstances that produces severe mental trauma and physical suffering among prisoners serving death sentences."

Human rights violations in the context of the "fight against terrorism"

Since his re-election on 21 June 2014, President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has started an active policy of repression against political opponents, using the "fight against terrorism" as a convenient pretext. The 5 January 2010 law on terrorism – which repealed and replaced the 2005 one – in fact contains some repressive articles in contradiction with the Mauritanian Constitution. In particular, its vague definition of the crime of "terrorism" is likely to include violations that have nothing to do with terrorism and that only serve to criminalise political opponents and human rights defenders.

Violations of the right to freedom of expression, association and assembly

The Mauritanian authorities continue, unabated, to harass and repress human rights defenders, political opponents, students and the media, with the aim of reducing them to silence. Article 10 of the Constitution does, however, guarantee a number of fundamental rights, which include the freedoms of expression, association and assembly. Nevertheless, the authorities systematically repress peaceful protests, often using violence against demonstrators.

Persistent practice of slavery

Mauritania has a legislative arsenal to fight against slavery. The practice was abolished in 1981, criminalised in 2007, and qualified as a "crime against humanity" in 2012. Upon her return from Mauritania in February 2014, the former UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary forms of slavery, Ms. Gulnara Shahinian, who met with many victims of slavery "who had been utterly deprived of their rights," concluded in her report that "de facto slavery in Mauritania continues to be a slow, invisible process which results in the 'social death' of many thousands of women and men."

Based on her findings, the Special Rapporteur recommended, among others, that the 2007 Slavery Act be amended to contain a clear definition of torture to help with judicial enforcement, provide for victim assistance and programmes to aid victims' reintegration into society, and develop a national strategy to combat slavery.

Alkarama's Recommendations:

In view of the information presented above, Alkarama made the following recommendations to the State:
1. Accept individual complaint mechanisms of the Committee against Torture (CAT) and the Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED) under Articles 22 UNCAT and 31 ICCPED;
2. Establish an independent National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) and bring the National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR) in conformity with the Paris Principles;
3. Take concrete measures to investigate, in an independent and impartial manner, cases of torture or ill-treatment, and ensure that perpetrators are prosecuted;
4. Ensure that condition of detention comply with the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment Prisoners;
5. Ensure the freedoms of association, expression and peaceful assembly.

For more information or an interview, please contact the media team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Dir: +41 22 734 1007 Ext: 810)