Mauritania: 7 Independent UN Experts Call for IRA Activists Rights
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
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 Lô, Abdallahi Matallah Seck, Moussa Biram, Abdallahi Abou Diop et Mohamed Jaroullah.
Mauritania: Malian National Sentenced to Death Following Unfair Trial
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
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.
Tunisia/Mauritania: The Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture to Visit 2 North African Countries in 2016
On 25 November 2015, the United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) announced that it will visit in Tunisia and Mauritania in 2016. This procedure follows the two States' respective ratifications of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) in June 2011 and January 2012.
Oman: Universal Periodic Review 2015 - Draft Report
Mauritania: Universal Periodic Review Reveals that Authorities Must Move from Talk to Action
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.
Mauritania: Alkarama Briefs EU Representatives on Human Rights Situation in the Country
On 15 October 2015, Alkarama attended a pre-session briefing organised by the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, in view of the Mauritania's Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which will take place between 2 and 13 November 2015. Alkarama expressed its main concerns and recommendations, focusing on the practice of torture and the poor detention conditions, the authorities' failure to obtain transitional justice as well as their persecution of human rights defenders.
Mauritania: An Activist Fighting against Impunity Threatened and Persecuted by the Authorities
On 23 July 2015, Alkarama submitted a communication to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence (SR Truth) concerning the case of Abderrahmane Ould Ahmed, an activist still threatened and persecuted by the Mauritanian authorities for his fight against the impunity of the perpetrators of the Inal massacre of black Mauritanians in the early 1990s.