UP-DATE: ROSSO, MAURITANIA Imprisonment and Trial of Biram Dah Abeid and Colleagues
November 24, 2014
Alice Bullard, CEO IRA – USA
Washington DC
I. Next Hearing in Rosso scheduled for November 25, 2014 (note: hearing dates are subject to change by authorities)
Samba Diagana, Abidine Matalla, Hassane Mahmoud et Mohamed Yacoub will be brought before the judge d’instruction
[Hearings for those detained in Nouakchott will begin as of the 24th of November].
II. NEW ARREST: Yacoub Moussa was arrested Sunday, November 23, 2014, in Nouakchott during a spontaneous demonstration against the arrests of human rights defenders. The location of his imprisonment is unknown.
III. Hearing on November 20, 2014:
IRA members organized a sit-in in front of the courthouse in Rosso in anticipation of the hearing for those having a hearing — Biram Dah ABEID, Brahim Bilal RAMDHANE, Cheikh VALL and Khattri RAHEL. These IRA members held forth on the philosophy of IRA – Mauritanie to the judge d’instruction.
On this day those imprisoned were able to see their lawyers and to tell of how they have been tortured with insults, chaining, and other humiliations they have suffered in the place of their detention. Some of them indicated that it was the Director of Security of Rosso (directeur de la sureté) who gave the order to “mâter” [seems to mean ‘rape’] and torture the prisoners.
The four prisoners unanimously deplored the conditions of imprisonment and called for an immediate change of conditions. There are no mosquitoe nets, and the prisoners are shut into tiny cells without any windows for fourteen hours at a stretch.
Biram’s testimony at the Friday Nov. 20 hearing addressed the struggle of IRA against inequality under the law and how religion has been used to sustain inequality under the law. The lawyer for IRA, Maitre Deihy, reported to Hamady Lehbouss that the judge d’instruction was profoundly troubled by the responses given by Biram Dah Abeid; he could not contain his tears and wept openly in the midst of the hearing.
“According to a report in Almushahid, Biram Dah Abeid gave a highly religious speech before the judge d’instruction, focused on the fate of just and unjust judges in Islam. The judge, Biram said, is responsible before God for the judgement that he renders. Neither President Ould Abdel Azziz, nor the Minister of Justice, nor any other person can protect him from the true judgement, that of God, on that day only his good actions will aid him.
The judge was visibly influenced by this religious discourse and showed some hesitation before, finally giving into the pressure from the authorities and deciding to send Biram and his three companions back to prison to await the testimony of the four other prisoners in the next days.
We have learned, as well, of the heart attack suffered by the Procureur de la République du Trarza. He was admitted to the emergency room of the Rosso hospital for two days afterwhich his deteriorating condition necessitated his transfer to the capital, Nouakchott.”
(Lien sur Moushahid: http://mushahide.com/index.php/newssection/5363-2014-11-23-10-44-33.html)
Current Charges against those in Rosso
Charges currently pending are reportedly incitement to violence, troubling public order, outrage of the public authority, membership in a non-recognized organization.
IV. Controversy over the UNHCR visit & conditions of detention
The members of IRA imprisoned in Rosso are shut into tiny cells without any windows or other means of ventilation. Lack of air has caused some to faint, and has caused others to experience severe respiratory distress.
There is no protection in these dank, humid cells against the mosquitoes, creating conditions almost certain to lead to infection with malaria or Yellow Fever.
Those imprisoned have also been stripped, beaten and physically violated.
A representative of the UNHCR, Mrs. Mehret Berhane, and an attorney “charge de mission” Cheikh Abdallahi OULD AHMED BABOU visited Mr. Abeid at the prison in Rosso (the “prison civil”). This visit took place under the auspices of the Office of the HIgh Commission of Human Rights in Nouakchott. The goal of the visit was to inquire about the conditions of the incarceration of IRA members imprisoned in Rosso since November 11, 2014.
Their conversation, in which Abeid described the conditions of their current imprisonment as execrable, while their detainment prior to their first hearing was relatively humane, was surrepticously audio-taped. This recording was later conveyed to television reporters. At some point between the recording and the numerous airings of this recording, the tape was edited making it appear that Mr. Abeid and his imprisoned colleagues have no complaints about the conditions of their current imprisonment.
IRA – Mauritanie Press release: “At the end of the visit the visitors took their leave, with the promise to continue to follow this issue and to report regularly to the hierarchy at the UN HCHR.
“Imagine the surprise of the public, when a local television station announced in its news cast that same evening that “the conditions of the detention of IRA members in Rosso are good.” ; as proof, following the announcement an astonishingly short short audio clip was played in which the President of IRA – Mauritanie evoked a decent treatment. This news was then rebroadcast by other media.
“Here it is appropriate to enlighten public opinion, which has been misled by the televised broadcast whose delinquent character implicates, de facto, the responsable parties at the Office of the High Commisson on Human Rights of the United Nations in Nouakchott, Mauritania.
In effect, among other questions, the visitors asked President Biram Dah Abeid to speak about the situation of his comrades and himself, since their arrests. In response, he explained at the level of the Gendarmerie where they were first detained, he with three other comrades, there was very correct treatment with no assault on their dignity. After that he launched into an expose of the severe bad treatment they have endured in the Rosso prison, which he characterized as torture. In the interview on November 20, with the on-line newspaper Almushahid, Biram detailed the cramped space, the sleeplessness, the forced standing for hours on end. He explained, as well, the death threats against him by the Directeur Ggénéral de la sûreté de l’Etat (General Director for State Security), who is a presumed recidivist torturer, notorious since the purges of 1990-1991 (link to Almushahid interview; cliquer ici )
On the television Alwataniya only the first part of Biram’s description was broadcast, making it seem in that what that Biram is mostly content with the conditions. It frequently happens that international functionaries let themselves be taken and used, often with full knowledge of this, by the Mauritanian authorities. These authorities, since the days of the dictator Colonel Oul Taya, have acquired a certain expertise in handling foreigners sent on missions to Mauritania. They know how to pressure, to blackmail, and to change their opinions either blatant gifts to gain favor, or by exploiting their weaknesses.
In addition to the secret recording of the conversation, the manipulation of the tape in order to deceive the public constitutes a crime for which Mrs. Mehret and Attorney Cheikh Abdallahi OUld Ahmed Babou, both of them acting under the authority of the High Commissioner of Human Rights of the United Nations in Mauritania, are the most responsable. The acted deliberately, that is to say with full understanding of the substance of the fight that opposes IRA to conservative segments of the society and the state, from which flow risks to the integrity of the secular anti-slavery activists.
The two visitors took the initiative to record their discussion without Biram’s knowledge; they manipulated or let others manipulate the recording; these two levels of grave abuse of authority, within the very tense context of Biram and his colleagues languishing in cells because of their peaceful actions against racism, against fanaticism, against agrarian servitude and the dispossession of the peasants, demands an explanation from the High Commissioner of Human Rights of the United Nations.
In the name of the universal struggle that inspires us and that forms the legitimate basis of the UN HCHR, for the prisoners and their family, and for the integrity of the agencies and organizations of the UN, we await a moment of truth.” (at http://www.iramauritanie.org/2014/11/des-responsables-du-bureau-du-haut-commissariat-aux-droits-de-lhomme-de-lonu-a-nouakchott-mauritanie-auteurs-de-fraude-et-de-tripatouillage-audio-contre-un-detenu/ )
V. Human Rights Defenders, Terrorism and Imams: Some Imams have used their religious office to denounce human rights activists Biram Dah Abeid and Fatimentou Mint … Women Heads of Families.
This is a translation of the IRA summary of the interview aired on Alwataniya TV (
http://biramdahabeid.org/recurrence-des-appels-a-la-haine-religieuse-et-connivence-de-letat-en-mauritanie/ ).
The respons of the jihadist to the question, “if you became president of the country and of the Islamic nation, what would you do with the following people… First, Biram Dah Abeid
Response, first of all, it is not good to speak of Satan, but since you wish, I will respond by saying I would invite in order to ask him to stop dividing the Islamic nation, the nation of Mauritania, ask that he abandon the anti-Islamic discourse, the anti-Imam discourse, which divides Mauritanians between Beydanes (White Moors) and Haratine, and if he continued, I would subject him to an extreme punishment, and extreme punishment is liquidation, it is unalterable death.
Second, the activist Mrs. Aminetou Mint Moctar. She would have the same end, her end will be death, total liquidation.
Third, the activist Mrs. Makfoula Mint Brahim, the same thing, the liquidation for all of these apostates, these unfaithful and non-believers, these Kafirs (slaves)
Fourth: the teachers of philosophy: of them I would ask that they stop teaching this material, and I would prohibit them from working.
Here is a direct link to the portion of the video with the Jihadist advocating “liquidation” of human rights defenders
: http://www.bellewarmedia.com/14072.html
and, a link to the complete video: http://www.bellewarmedia.com/14082.html
This type of denunciation of human rights defenders is given greater context by the following IRA report republishing news from the UAE:
“A recent report by United Arab Emirates has four Mauritanian Imams on its list of terrorists. Those listed are:
“Mr Cheikh Mohamed Moktar Ould Emballa, Chief of the Supreme Council of the Fatwa in Nouakchott, member of the Union of the Muslim Oulemas, and member of the Peace Forum for Muslim Communities, very close to the Emirate State;
the president of the Elvadhila political party, Mr Othmane Cheihk Abul-Maali, a former Mauritanian diplomat to Gulf countries, with on-going close relations with political and religious authorities in the Emirates.
Cheikh Mohammed Elhacen Ould Dedew, President of the Center for the Education of Imams, member of the Union of the Muslim Oulemas, and without a doubt the most influential of all among the Mauritanian Islamists.
According to the article, the United Arab Emirates have interdicted Mr. Dedew from entering their country for the past several years. … (Persécuté sous le pouvoir de l’ex Chef de l’Etat Moawiya Ould Taya,, réputé érudit, Ould Dedew est aussi un homme d’affaires prospère). Il entretient un large réseau d’associations de bienfaisance dont le gouvernement mauritanien fermait, la plus importante, au début du mois de mars 2014, suite à des troubles provoqués par une série de « fausses » profanations du Coran.
Cheikh Mohammed Hafedh Ould Enahwi, member of the Union of the Oulemas, a person of very high status with much wealth;
Cheikh Abdallahi Ould Ely Salem, former President of the Constitutional Council of Mauritania.
“All of these people named here profit from status and respect in Mauritania and exercise great political, economic and religious influence. They often have access to the highest levels of the government.
“With this listing of terrorist organizations, the United Arab Emirates have lifted the veil to reveal a great number of institutions and jihadist groups in the world, including the Union of the Oulemas. [IRA French version with link to the Arabic is available here: http://www.iramauritanie.org/2014/11/quatre-imams-mauritaniens-sur-la-liste-des-terroristes-publie-par-les-emirats-arabes-unis/ ]
VI. Notable Press Coverage:
The arrests in Rosso have made it into the mainstream press, sometimes in a story that also covers the recent release of the annual Global Slavery Index. Stories have run in numerous publications including the Economist, Foreign Policy, Reuters (and picked up by diverse news services such as Yahoo), VOA, British Muslim TV and Al-Jazeera Arabic.
LInks to stories:
Global Slavery Index: http://www.globalslaveryindexorg/
Economist:
http://www.economist.com/news/international/21633585-governments-and-lobbies-still-need-fight-end-modern-day-slavery-still-trapped
Foreign Policy: http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/11/19/it_s_2014_and_global_slavery_still_exists_on_a_huge_scale
Foreign Policy nominates BIram as a ‘thinker of the year’: http://globalthinkers.foreignpolicy.com/#advocates/list
British Muslim TV : https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1mgx3hWN365VkZwNkJSS1hMcjg/view – (at minute 12
Black Press USA: http://www.blackpressusa.com/2014/11/a-nation-where-slavery-still-thrives/#sthash.uIXlWDTk.RZPvkzEP.dpbs
Periodistas en espanol: http://periodistas-es.com/detenido-biram-dah-abeid-lider-abolicionista-en-mauritania-44312
RFI: http://www.rfi.fr/afrique/20141119-mauritanie-deux-nouveaux-militants-anti-esclavagistes-devant-justice/
Repubblica: http://www.repubblica.it/solidarieta/diritti-umani/2014/11/23/news/mauritania-101217545/
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