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IRA Mauritanie has announced that the Lawyers Collective for the Defense of Biram Dah Abeid, Brahim Bilal Ramdane and Djiby Sow have filed the final appeal for unjust imprisonment. January 16, 2015, Mr. Abeid, Ramdane and Sow were sentenced to two years imprisonment and five years deprivation of basic civil rights. The men were convicted of public disorder and resisting authority based on their presence at an anti-slavery march outside of Rosso, Mauritania.
 Please Contribute to IRA – USA No slave owners are in prison in Mauritania, and yet Mauritania has the highest prevalence of slavery of any nation in the world. The anti-slavery activists are in prison because they threaten the social hierarchy in Mauritania and the legal tradition of accepting slavery as a normal facet of society.
IRA – USA calls upon the Supreme Court judges to base their ruling on law, rather than on politics. There are no sufficient legal grounds to retain these men in prison. IRA – USA calls for their immediate liberation.
Here is the text of the IRA – Mauritanie announcement:
Collectif de Défense de Messieurs Biram Ould Dah Oud Abeid, Brahim Ould Bilal Ould Ramdhan et Dhiby Sow
Communiqué de Presse
La chambre correctionnelle de la Cour d’appel d’Aleg – récemment érigée, presque pour la circonstance, a rendu, le 20/08/2015, un arrêt par lequel elle a confirmé le jugement du tribunal régional de Rosso condamnant, sur le fondement de l’article 193 du Code Pénal, nos clients Biram Ould Dah Oud Abeid, Brahim Ould Bilal Ould Ramdhan et Dhibi Sow pour rébellion et l’atteinte à l’autorité publique. Cet arrêt a été qualifié de définitif et de contradictoire bien que ni les prévenus, ni leurs avocats n’eussent comparu devant cette juridiction.
Le lendemain, 21/8/2015, Monsieur le Procureur General prés la Cour Suprême a, pour sa part, organisé un point de presse pour indiquer que « la Cour d’appel d’Aleg a confirmé le jugement du premier degré rendu par le tribunal de Rosso dans cette affaire » tout en ajoutant que les « prévenus avaient été condamnés en première instance pour rassemblement, incitation au rassemblement, rébellion, résistance à la force publique et offense à celle – ci dans l’exercice de ses fonctions, usage de la violence et voies de fait envers les représentants de la force publique dans l’exercice de sa mission que ces infractions ont été commises dans le cadre d’une association non autorisée et que ces faits sont prévus et punis par les articles 101,102, 103,104,105, 191, 193,194,et 204 du Code pénal et de l’article 8 de la loi 64/98 sur les associations ».
Agissant sur instruction de ses clients, le Collectif de Défense des prévenus entreprendra l’ultime voie de recours encore ouverte contre l’arrêt de la Cour d’Appel d’Aleg : le pourvoi en cassation devant la Cour Suprême.
A cette occasion, il tient à constater, avec appréhension, les violations graves de la loi qui ont émaillé cette procédure :
le juge d’instruction a instruit le dossier à charge seulement et non à charge et à décharge, et donc dans une célérité particulièrement suspecte
le jugement du tribunal de Rosso n’ a point reflété le débat judiciaire qui s’est fait lors de l’examen du dossier en audience publique; le tribunal a fait recours à une qualification des faits que la loi et singulièrement l’article 193 du code pénal visé par le juge dans sa décision ne prévoient point « l’atteinte à l’autorité publique »
les prévenus ont été, aussitôt le jugement de Rosso rendu, transférés à une maison d’arrêt, celle d’Aleg, ne relevant point du ressort de la Cour d’appel de Nouakchott, seule compétente pour le juger, au regard du droit procédural mauritanien
la Cour suprême a, après coup, couvert cette atteinte grave au droit de chaque prévenu à être jugé par son juge naturel, en soustrayant par une décision juridictionnelle formelle, le dossier de la Cour d’Appel de Nouakchott à celle d’Aleg.
La Cour d’Appel d’Aleg a rendu sa décision en une journée dans des conditions plutôt rocambolesques.
Le procureur général ne semble prêter aucune considération au contenu des décisions judiciaires rendues dans cette affaire. Pour lui l’accusation portée contre les prévenus et les décisions rendues à leur encontre ne peuvent être qu’à l’identique ; le détail technique du droit est dépourvu de tout intérêt.
Le collectif ne peut que regretter l’instrumentalisation de la justice, à ses différents échelons, dans un dossier dont l’issue aurait dû, pour des considérations multiples, relever du seul droit et notamment de celui des prévenus à un procès juste et équitable.
Il entreprendra sereinement son ministère d’avocat devant la Cour Suprême avec l’espoir de l’entendre dire le droit, loin des impératifs politiques ponctuels qui sont inconciliables avec l’exigence d’une justice indépendante, crédible et digne de confiance aux yeux du citoyen mauritanien , des amis et partenaires de notre pays ./.
Nouakchott, le 02/9/2015
Le collectif
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IRA congratulates Maitre Fatimata M’Baye, celebrated as a “Woman of Courage” in Mauritania. M’Baye is pictured here, holding the award plaque, at the U.S. embassy award ceremony with U.S. Ambassador to Mauritania, Larry Andre. Maitre M’Baye has worked throughout her career to advance human rights in Mauritania. She is president of the Association Mauritanienne des droits de l’homme. She is also a current nominee for the global Woman of Courage award.
مبادرة إنبعـــاث الحــــركة الانعتـــــــاقية
INITIATIVE DE RESURGENCE DU MOUVEMENT ABOLITIONNISTE EN MAURITANIE
IRA – Mauritanie
Communiqué de Condoléance
A la mémoire de Leila ALAOUI
La folie meurtrière a frappé le Burkina Faso. L’internationale salafo-terroriste s’est une fois de plus illustrée sur le continent africain par la barbarie que rien ne peut justifier, faisant plusieurs dizaines de victimes. Notre feue amie Leila ALAOUI, militante infatigable, était en mission au Burkina Faso pour le compte d’Amnesty International, elle a été victime de l’acte ignoble et a succombé le mercredi 19 janvier 2016 à ses blessures. Une vie de combattante pour la dignité et les Droits humains s’en est allée, ôtée à jamais à notre affection.
Convaincue que l’islam, celui du prophète Mohamad (PSL), est une religion de paix et de tolérance, l’Initiative de Résurgence du Mouvement Abolitionniste (IRA – Mauritanie) :
Présente ses condoléances à la famille et aux proches éplorés de notre regrettée Leila ALAOUI, ainsi qu’aux responsables, militants et sympathisants d’Amnesty International,
Exprime sa solidarité avec le Peuple et le Gouvernement burkinabés aux quels, elle exprime ses condoléances les plus attristées,
Dénonce avec vigueur toute instrumentalisation de l’islam qui justifie le massacre gratuit d’innocents.
Nouakchott, le 20 janvier 2016
La Commission de communication
IRA USA joins in solidarity with Amnesty International’s call for action .
November 11, 2014, Mauritanian police arrested a large group of anti-slavery activists outside of Rosso (in the south of Mauritania). The trial of these activists resulted in the release of many, but Biram Dah Abeid, Brahim Bilal Ramdhane and Djiby Sow each received a sentence of two years in prison. In June of 2015 Djiby Sow was granted provisional release to seek medical treatment for kidney disease. Biram’s health has suffered considerably in recent months. He has developed diabetes, herniated discs and consequent neuropathy, dental problems, and persistent gastro-intestinal pain. Thus far the authorities have refused to allow him access to a hospital for normal care. This refusal violates the human right to the highest available standard of medical care.
In sentencing Biram, Brahim and Djiby to prison, the government of Mauritania violated international human rights law, to which Mauritania is bound by treaty, including the right to freedom of assembly, freedom of conscious, and freedom of association. Meanwhile, the same government has failed to ever impose a prison sentence on known slave owners.
Biram and Brahim remain in jail, while known slave owners live free and prosperous lives in Mauritania.
IRA – USA joins Amnesty International’s call to action for the release of the anti-slavery activists.
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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CALL TO ACTION
Date: From 30 October to 30 January 2016
ऀ
Release anti-slavery activists about to mark one year anniversary of their imprisonment.
Action request at a glanceऀ
On 30 October, Amnesty International will be launching a campaign calling for the release of anti-
slavery activists, sentenced in Aleg (Mauritania) in January 2015.
Through this Action Circular, the West Africa Francophone Team requests sections – AI France, Spain, Belgium, UK, US ,Senegal, Mali , other EU Sections, Maghreb sections and AI structures to take actions urging the Mauritanian government to: 1) release them immediately and unconditionally and 2) recognize slavery and discrimination based on social category or occupation 3) cease to arrest, charge, prosecute and convict people merely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression 4) allow human rights organizations to register and to carry out their work.
Recommended actions include targeting the Mauritanian government and Mauritanian embassies in key development partners of Mauritania, as well as Maghreb sections, and sending solidarity messages to human rights defenders.
Background
On 15 January 2015, the court of Rosso, a town in southern Mauritania, sentenced three anti-slavery activists and human rights defenders to two years in prison for belonging to and managing an unrecognised organisation, participation in an unauthorised assembly and offenses against the forces of law and order.
Brahim Bilal, Ramdane, Djiby Sow and Biram Dah Abeid, a former presidential candidate and President of the anti-slavery organisation, Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement in Mauritania (IRA), were arrested on 11 November 2014 whilst leading a peaceful campaign against slavery and raising awareness amongst the local population about the land rights of people of slave descent.
The practice of slavery persists in Mauritania. Organisations, such as SOS-Esclaves and IRA, regularly condemn cases of slavery. In addition, many people of slave descent continue to work on lands to which they have been given no rights and so are forced to give part of their crops to their would-be traditional masters.
Slavery was officially abolished in Mauritania in 1981 and this practice has been recognized as a crime under national law since 2007. The International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Mauritania is a state party, also proscribes slavery. Despite this, at least 32 cases of slavery have been brought to the Public Prosecutor since 2010, with most investigations subject to long delays. In 2011, the only slave-owner ever prosecuted for the criminal offence of “slavery-like practices against a minor”, received a two-year prison sentence. After only a few months in prison, the convicted person was then granted provisional release pending the appeal hearing. This appeal has still not been held and he remains free to this day.
The Mauritanian authorities often restrict the freedom of expression of human rights defenders and organisations that are campaigning against slavery. Biram Dah Abeid, the President of IRA- Mauritania, was previously arrested in 2010 and 2012. In 2013, he was awarded both the UN Human Rights Prize and the Front Line Defenders Award.
Amnesty International believes that Brahim Bilal Ramdane, Djiby Sow and Biram Dah Abeid are prisoners of conscience, detained solely because of their peaceful activities aiming to combat slavery.
In February 2015, Amnesty International and 20 organisations called upon the Mauritanian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release these convicted anti-slavery human rights defenders who are being arbitrarily detained in violation of national Mauritanian law and the international instruments ratified by Mauritania.
The three anti-slavery activists are detained in Aleg which is far (more than 261 kms) from their place of residence in the capital city. They began a hunger strike on Monday 23 February 2015 to protest “squalid conditions” and abuse by the prison authorities.
On 26 June 2015, Mauritanian media announced the provisional release of antislavery activist and President of the NGO Kawtal, Djiby Sow, for health reasons.
In August 2015, an Amnesty International delegation carried a mission to Mauritania.
The delegation obtained permission to visit the prisoners of conscience including human rights defenders and anti-slavery activists, Brahim Bilal and Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid.
During the mission, AI’s delegation was also able to meet with the authorities including the Minister of Justice, the President of National Assembly and a group of Members of Parliament, and the Commissioner Human Rights and to discuss the release of prisoners of conscience Brahim Bilal Ramdane, Djiby Sow and Biram Dah Abeid.
On 20 August 2015, an appeal court in the south-western town of Aleg confirmed the two year sentences.
Amnesty International is concerned by the Mauritanian government’s violations of freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.
Goals and objectives of the campaign
Goals
- The Mauritanian government releases immediately and unconditionally the anti- slavery activists
- The Mauritanian government respects fundamental freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly.Objectives
- The Mauritanian government ceases to arrest, charge, prosecute and convict people merely for exercising their rights to freedom of expression
- The Mauritanian government recognizes slavery and discrimination based on social categories and occupations
- The Mauritanian government allows human rights organizations to register and carry out their work;
- National, regional and international pressure through campaign and advocacy actions and media work increases the visibility of the detention of the three anti-slavery activists and amplifies calls for their release;
- The international community increases their scrutiny of human rights violations, especially restrictions of the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly and other civil and political rightsStrategy and key targets
Since an appeal court in the south-western town of Aleg has confirmed the two year sentence on 20 August 2015, we believe that a public campaign and targeted direct advocacy actions has the potential to lead to the release of the anti-slavery activists. Such a campaign has been discussed with the prisoners met and with their families and legal teams who agree with this approach after months of quieter efforts.
The campaign demands the unconditional release of three human rights activists through a series of actions, lobby letters, an online/social media campaign, and protests by sections. This will be reinforced through direct advocacy with national, regional and international political and human rights institutions by the International Secretariat through the Dakar hub at strategic moments.
Key targets for movement actions
The Mauritanian Authorities
With Mauritania’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) approaching, the Mauritanian government seems determined to show to peer countries that they are doing their best to respect human rights. A number of laws including a law on Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and on slavery have been adopted in recent months. As observed above, the government used ironically severe measures to repress freedom of expression and assembly despite those laws. Public pressure on the government might encourage Mauritanian officials to reconsider their actions on this case, urge them to free immediately and unconditionally the three prisoners of conscience.
The anti-slavery activist or human rights defenders
Other key targets of this campaign are the national, regional and international organisation and anti- slavery/ human rights activists. Amnesty International seeks, through this campaign, to further engage all national, regional and international organisation to demand the release of the three anti-slavery activists.
Key additional target for International Secretariat actions
The Dakar hub through West Africa Francophone Team, supported by the Africa Advocacy Program, will conduct private advocacy with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), UN Special Mechanisms and Special Envoys on the Region, to call for their support in seeking the release of the jailed anti-slavery activists.
Recommended actions
1. Movementactions
Lobby the Mauritanian government
Write to the Mauritanian Government for the release of anti-slavery activists jailed 2 years
We invite all sections to write to the Mauritanian government calling for their release. Sections in France, Spain, EU sections, Netherlands, UK and US, Maghreb Senegal and Mali following consultation with the West African Francophone team in the Dakar hub, should also write to the Mauritanian Embassy in their country and ask for a meeting with Mauritanian diplomats to discuss this case. Sections such as AIUSA with their history of involvement in trying to address racial discrimination, can play an especially helpful role.
Please write immediately in French, Arabic or your own language:
- – Calling on Mauritanian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the three anti-slavery activists who have been detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of
expression and freedom of association;
- – The Mauritanian government ceases to arrest, charge, prosecute and convict people merelyfor exercising their rights to freedom of expression
- – The Mauritanian government recognizes slavery and discrimination based on socialcategories and occupation
- – Mauritanian authorities allows human rights organizations to register and carry out their work;President of the Republic
Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz
Secrétariat Général de la Présidence
BP 184
Nouakchott
Mauritanie
Fax: +222 45 25 98 01
Salutation: Your Excellency, President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
Ministre de la Justice et des Droits de l’Homme, Garde des Sceaux (Minister of Justice, Human Rights and Attorney General)
Me. Brahim Ould Daddah
Ministère de la Justice
BP 350 Nouakchott Mauritanie
Fax : 00 222 2525 70 02 00 222 45 25 70 02
Salutation : Dear Minister, Monsieur le Ministre de la Justice
Also send copies to diplomatic representatives accredited to your country.
Please keep us updated if you request and/or get meetings. Take a photo outside the Mauritanian Embassy before or after your meeting and share that with us!
Send Solidarity Cards to Biram, Brahim and Djiby Sow
Solidarity letters/ cards to support them are highly appreciated, so they will realise that there are not alone. Solidarity letters to POCs can also be sent to them via their organisation IRA. IRA members are in regular touch with POCs and their family and they can convey to them the content of such letters.
Solidarity action contact details Hamady Lehbouss
IPN
Bp 616
Nouakchott Mauritanie
To download and print the solidarity cards >>>> https://adam.amnesty.org/asset- bank/images/assetbox/c3126106-6e22-4270-bb56-80ef785db702/assetbox.html
Suggested message (French, Arabic or your Language)
Our thoughts are with you and all anti-slavery activists at this difficult time. We admire your courage and hope that you will be released soon.
Biram, Brahim and Djiby, Thank you for standing up for freedom of expression and fighting slavery. You are not alone.
Today and every day, we stand with you.
#FreeAntiSlaveryActivists
Media
Op-ed Letter from Aleg by Brahim and Biram (1 year in jail) or Letter from years of fighting against slavery Boubacar Messaoud will be publish November 11 , as 1 year in jail.
This op-ed will be publish in EU and African medias to inform about the state of human rights in Mauritania and to raised awareness around our campaign.
Online/Social Media Campaign
On 11 November,
- Share the solidarity postcards – Twitter, FacebookFor 11 November a Thunderclap action start publicising on 30 Oct for blast out on 11
November.
- Send solidarity messages to Mauritanian anti-slavery activists on social platforms – with hashtags #FreeAntiSlaveryActivists
Suggested messaging:
You are not forgotten + Hasthag
Thank you for standing up for freedom of expression + Hasthag
Tell to Mauritanian authorities @xxxx to free anti-slavery activists NOW ! + hasthag Biram, Brahim, 1 year in jail, tell the Mauritanian authorities to free anti-slavery activist You are not alone. We are all with you Biram, Brahim and Djiby
CC Mauritanian diplomats on Twitter
While the social media is a great tool for wide mobilisation and impact, we might face backlash directly from the Mauritanian officials or supporters because of the sensitivity of slavery issue in Mauritania. We highly recommend that you avoid engaging in tense back-and-forth exchanges with these two groups.
In our response, if necessary, we should stay in the framework of the following:
- – The Mauritanian authorities must free them
- – The Mauritanian authorities must uphold the rights to freedom of expression, association andassembly,
Protests
Where possible, section are encouraged to organize protests in front of Mauritanian Embassies to ramp up international pressure on the Mauritania government to release anti- slavery activists. We would recommend that this takes place in France, (ideally with others organisations who have signed the appeal), in the USA (with the participation of IRA USA) and in Spain. On 28 November, Mauritanian will celebrate there Independence Day, we encouraged activists to organise protest around independence vs Slavery/ POC. Example of symbols: people with chains / or cords
Please do remember to notify or request authorization, as required in your country, before holding these events. Please let us know how we might be able to assist you with planning these activities. Don’t forget to send us photos that we can tweet to keep up the momentum around this campaign!
Speaking tour
Where possible, section are encouraged to organize speaker tour with Mauritanian anti-slavery activists. Please contact the West Africa Francophone Team who can rely with member of IRA other HR organization from Mauritania who can participate to meetings with your section members.
2. Advocacy actions by the International Secretariat towards regional and international institutions/countries
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights
The West Africa team in Dakar, together with the Africa Advocacy Programme, will work together to:
1. Send calls for action to Special Rapporteurs on Human Rights Defenders in Africa, Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, and Prison and Condition of Detention in Africa.
Engage with UN Special Procedures on Human Rights Defenders, Peaceful Assembly, and Expression
The West Africa team in Dakar together with our UN team, will call on Special Procedures to take actions for the release of human rights activists and keep them aware of the human rights situation in Mauritania.
Engage with Special Envoys
The West Africa team in Dakar with relevant AI sections, will also encourage Special Envoys from the US, EU, France to keep up pressure on Mauritanian authorities to release anti-slavery activists and keep human rights issues at the top of their agenda when meeting with Mauritanian authorities.
Timeframe
The West Africa team in Dakar, will launch the campaign in October 30, 2015 Key hooks for future action include:
– November 3: UPR Mauritania
– November 11: 1-year detention of activists
– November 28: Mauritania Independence Day
– January 15, 2016: date of the first sentence
Campaign materials
Here are materials we have issued since we opened this case:
Quotes
“I call on the Mauritanian authorities to develop a peaceful dialogue, and to open their doors and hearts to start tackling the slavery issue.” Statement by Biram Dah-Abeid, on November 10, 2014
Pictures
https://adam.amnesty.org/asset-bank/images/assetbox/c3126106-6e22-4270-bb56- 80ef785db702/assetbox.html
Press Release
Mauritania: Anti-slavery activist’s harsh sentence upheld on appeal
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/08/mauritania-anti-slavery-activists-harsh-sentence- upheld-on-appeal/
Blog – Mauritania the gap between words and actin, by Alioune Tine
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/08/slavery-in-mauritania-the-gap-between- words-and-actions/
Mauritania: Jailed presidential candidate and anti-slavery activists must be released https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/01/mauritania-jailed-presidential-candidate-and- anti-slavery-activists-must-be-released/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr38/0001/2015/en/
UPR Report
Mauritania: Actions speak louder than words: Amnesty International submission to the Universal Periodic Review, November 2015
Film, Le Cercle des Noyés http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=18727624&cfilm=120895.html
AI 2014/2015 Report
Contacts
The West Africa Francophone Team is happy to coordinate with you on actions planned for this campaign. Please feel free to send questions, feedback on your activities and send other inquiries to Kiné-Fatim Diop, West Africa Francophone countries Campaigner, kinefatim.diop@amnesty.org , Gaetan Mootoo, West Africa Francophone countries Researcher and Yvonne Cullen Yvonne.cullen@amnesty.org RCCA
 Free Ould Mkhaitir AI and other ngos
Amnesty International has cooperated with numerous other human rights organizations to call for the release of the blogger Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir.
Ould Mkhaitir was sentenced to death in January 2015 because of his calls to end the caste-based discrimination in Mauritania. Ould Mkhaitir’s family belongs to the moulamine (smithy) caste, and suffers various social and economic exclusions. Mkhaitir’s blog post calling for the purification of caste and racial bias from Mauritania’s religious practices earned immediate denunciation as blasphemy. The charge of blasphemy quickly transformed into a charge of apostasy, as it is not allowed that a faithful individual criticize the founder of the Muslim religion. Even so, an apostate is, according to Mauritanian statutes based on shari’a codes, supposed to be invited to apologize and retract his apostasy. Mkhaitir not only was not invited to apologize, his apology was ruled to be hypocritical. It is the charge of hypocrisy that allowed the court to impose a death sentence.
IRA’s President and CEO, Alice Bullard is the international lawyer for Ould Mkhaitir.
Mauritania must immediately release Mohamed Mkhaïtir, blogger sentenced to death for apostasy
Joint Public Statement (AFR 38/002/2015)
We, the undersigned human rights and civil society organisations, call for the immediate and unconditional release of Mohamed Cheikh ould Mohamed Mkhaïtir. We consider him to be a prisoner of conscience who has not committed any crime but was merely peacefully exercising his right to freedom of thought, conscience, expression and religion.
International law prohibits any coercion that would impair the rights to have or adopt a religion or belief, including the use of penal sanctions to compel believers or non-believers to adhere to any religious beliefs, to recant their religion or belief or to convert. We further consider that this provision of the Mauritanian penal code, imposing the death penalty, violates Mauritania’s international obligations.
Mohamed Mkhaïtir, a 29 year old blogger who was held in pre-trial detention for almost one year, was sentenced to death for apostasy1 at the Nouadhibou Court on 24 December 2014 in northwest Mauritania. He had posted an article online on the Aqlame newspaper’s website, in December 2013, which was later taken down as it was deemed blasphemous towards the prophet Mohamed. The article was addressed to the members of his Moualamine (meaning blacksmith) social category and criticised those who use religion to marginalise certain groups in Mauritanian society.
Though article 3062 of the Mauritanian penal code provides for leniency in case of repentance, none was shown to Mohamed Mkhaïtir in spite of the fact that he repented during his pre-trial hearing at the gendarmerie (military police) station.
During his trial at the Nouadhibou Court the judge told Mohamed Mkhaïtir that he was accused of apostasy for “speaking lightly” of the Prophet Mohamed. Though Mohamed Mkhaïtir repented again during his trial, explaining that his article was solely intended to denounce those who use religion to belittle others, he was shown no leniency. This is the first death sentence imposed in Mauritania for apostasy since independence in 1960.
His lawyers have since appealed the decision to hand down the death sentence.
The right to freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. According to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), established pursuant to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to which Mauritania is a state party, freedom of expression under the charter has two primary elements: the right to receive information and the right to express and disseminate opinion.
1 The abandonment and criticism of one’s religious faith, belief or cause.
2 Article 306 of the Mauritanian penal code provides that, “any Muslim guilty of the crime of apostasy … will be asked to repent within a period of three days…if he does not repent within this time; he shall be sentenced to death as an apostate.” This article also states that “Any person guilty of the crime of apostasy (Zendagha), shall be sentenced to death, unless he repents beforehand,” and also that, “…if he repents before the execution of this sentence, the prosecutor will seize the Supreme Court, to the effect of his/her full rehabilitation, without prejudice to any sentence provided in the first paragraph this article [3 months to 3 years in prison and a fine of 5000 to 60000 UM].”
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief notes in particular that freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression are two mutually reinforcing human rights.3 He also further notes that similar to freedom of expression, freedom of religion or belief has a strong communicative dimension, which includes sharing one’s convictions with others, receiving and disseminating information about religious or belief issues and trying to persuade others in a non-coercive manner.4
The United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) established pursuant to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) in its General Comment No.345 notes also that, “Prohibitions of displays of lack of respect for a religion or other belief system, including blasphemy laws, are incompatible with the [ICCPR], except in specific circumstances where individuals are advocating “national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence” (article 20 of the ICCPR).6
We also take this opportunity to remind the Mauritanian authorities of the recent recommendation made by the UNHRC, which stipulates that Mauritania “should remove the crime of apostasy from its legislation and authorize Mauritanians to fully enjoy their freedom of religion, including by changing religion.”7
We the signing organisations, oppose the death penalty in all cases without exception, regardless of the nature or circumstances of the crime, the guilt, innocence or other characteristics of the offender or the method used by the state to carry out the execution. The death penalty violates the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR); and it is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Mohamed Mkhaïtir’s death sentence is also a clear violation of Mauritania’s obligations under the ICCPR to respect the right to freedom of expression.
The signatory organisations :
Action des Chrétiens pour l’abolition de la Torture ; Africtivistes (Senegal) ; Agir Ensemble pour les Droits de l’Homme (France) ; Amnesty International ; Anti Slavery International ; Article 19 ; Association des Femmes Chefs de Famille (Mauritania) ; Association mauritanienne des droits de l’Homme (Mauritania) ; Association Semfilms (Burkina Faso) ; Centre for Civil and Political Rights (Switzerland) ; Comité de Solidarité avec les Victimes des Violations des Droits Humains (Mauritania) ; Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l’Homme (FIDH) ; Forum des Organisations Nationales des Droits de l’Homme en Mauritanie (Mauritania) ; Initiative pour le Résurgence du Mouvement Abolitionniste (Mauritania) ; Initiative pour le Résurgence du Mouvement Abolitionniste, IRA (USA) ; Ligue pour la Défense de la Justice et de la Liberté (Burkina Faso) ; Minority Rights Group International (UK) ; Mouvement Burkinabè des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples (Burkina Faso) ; Pen International ; Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (RADDHO) (Senegal) ; Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) ; Society for Threatened Peoples ; SOS Esclaves (Mauritania) ; World Organisation Against Torture.
3 Report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, 13 August 2012, paragraph 17, http://daccess- ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?OpenAgent&DS=A/67/303&Lang=E, (last consulted 2 March 2015).
4 Ibid, paragraph 27.
5 UNHRC, General Comment No 34 on the ICCPR, 12 September 2011, paragraph 48, http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/gc34.pdf, (last consulted 2 March 2015).
6 ICCPR, article 20, http://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/ccpr.aspx, (last consulted 2 March 2015).
7 UNHRC, Concluding observations on the initial report of Mauritania, 21 November 2013, article 21, CCPR/C/MRT/CO/1,http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/treatybodyexternal/Download.aspx?symbolno=CCPR/C/MRT/CO/1&Lang=Fr ,(last consulted 2 March 2015).
Oumar Dia, Abdoulaye Aliou, Aliou Dia and Thièrno Amadou have been jailed in Dar El Barka because they refused to sign documents renouncing ownership of their ancestral lands.
They were working on the land on November 7, which was recently irrigated, when heavily armed police came to arrest them.
Four other peasant landowners were arrested October 24th in Karawlatt- Woullou N’Diaye. The arrested men are Cheîkh Tahar Dia (member of the Commission Opposed to the Seizing of Lands in Dar El Barka), Amadou Mamadou Guèye (Leader of the Repatriated in Bour), Mahmoud Alassane Dia et Djiby Hamat Sow. These men have been in jail in Aleg since October 24, 2015 for refusing to abandon claims to their ancestral lands.
When this second group of men appeared in court on the 29th of October, the judge offered to release them if they signed over ownership to their land. They all refused to sign and so were sent back to prison.
See the report in Fench on CRIDEM.
The lawyers’ collective for the defense of Biram Dah Abeid, Djiby Sow and Brahim Bilal Ramdhane today announced in a press conference that they would appeal the recent ruling that upheld the two year prison sentence for these three men.
These anti-slavery activists were sentenced for resisting public order in an anti-slavery demonstration on November 11, 2014.
Mauritania has never sentenced a slave owner, not even confessed slave owners, to two years in prison.
The press conference was held at the Association Femmes Chef de Famille (AFCF) of which nominee for the Nobel peace prize, Aminetou Moctar is the president.
Biram Dah Abeid, president of IRA, is also a nominee.
IRA is dedicated to ending slavery, racism and gender oppression in Mauritania. IRA has put slavery on the front pages of Mauritanian and international news sources. IRA is dedicated to fighting slavery in every part of Mauritanian society.
Black African tribes in Mauritania include the Pular (also called Fulani), the Soninke, the Wolof, and the Bambara. Caste and slavery figure in these tribes and needs to be part of the national solution. For example, the issue of slavery among the Soninke featured in a public debate, but this was a debate in Soninke and most of Mauritania could not participate.
The national government of Mauritania is controlled by the White Moors. Changing national policy requires challenging the White Moor leadership and their unwillingness to enforce anti-slavery laws. The persistence of feudal slavery on the village level depends on this national policy as well on the local tribal customs.
IRA demonstrations against slavery force the public to acknowledge slavery and to discuss how to move beyond slavery. Without IRA on the streets, demanding an end to slavery, Mauritanians would keep a judicious silence on the topic. After all, it is dangerous to challenge the status quo. Tradition is very strong in Mauritania. Challenging it is not for the faint of heart.
Recently IRA Mauritanie joined a group of local human rights organizations in challenging Black tribal slavery.
En Mauritanie, les tensions liées à la féodalité réapparaissent comme un phénix à chaque fois que les enjeux sont importants et quand surtout ceux-ci impliquent des personnes d’extraction servile. Les illustrations ne manquent pas : dans le village de Goïnitt dans le Guidimakha, la féodalité refuse un projet de point d’eau sous prétexte que l’initiative leur vient des « komos » ou esclaves ; dans celui de Testaye, un autre projet de construction d’une école « Medersa » est bloqué par la féodalité toujours sous le même fallacieux prétexte que la chefferie villageoise ne leur appartient pas, et donc aucune attribution d’une aire ne pourrait être accordée aux anciens esclaves « komos » peu importe la faisabilité du projet. Cette mentalité digne du code noir est à combattre sur tous les fronts. Les partis politiques ne sont pas épargnés par le phénomène.
Ex-patriot communities in France and Spain suffer from this same type of prohibition on slave caste individuals from occupying positions of power. For example, in June 2015 in the Spanish town of Almeria, an older Soninke man accused a younger Soninke of being a “son of slaves who is daring to rebel.” The younger man defended himself as best he could and the altercation finally ended through the intervention of the police.
IRA encourages all Mauritanians in all communities to stand up for equality under the law.
Three Mauritanian anti-slavery and human rights defenders have been nominated for the Nobel Prize.
The nominees are Aminetou Mint Moctar, president of Femmes Chef de Famille, Biram Dah Abeid, president of IRA, and Boubacar Messaoud, president of SOS-esclaves.
IRA – USA congratulates each of these nominees and hopes that the prize is awarded to a Mauritanian human rights defender.
… perhaps the prize committee might award the prize to all Mauritanian human rights defenders as they face off against the coercive power of the military government.
This is a state that imprisons anti-slavery activists while letting self-confessed slave owners go without any punishment. These courageous activists deserve recognition and support.
Today, August 20th 2015, the appeals court in Aleg upheld a two year prison sentence for the president of IRA, Biram Dah Abeid, for the Vice President, Brahim Bilal Ramdhane, and for the president of Kawtal, Djiby Sow. See Al-Jazeera report on this ruling. See IRA – Mauritanie press release on the court of appeals ruling. Amnesty International criticized this ruling as “revolting” and “unjust.” The Federation Internationale des ligues des droits de l’homme (FIDH) strongly condemned the ruling and pointed out that it demonstrates a complete lack of will to enforce the anti-slavery law. See also the Guardian report on the ruling.
Reuters reported on this denied appeal, comparing it to Mauritania’s release of a Malian jihadist from jail.
Sidi Mohamed Ould Mohamed Ould Bouamama, better known as Sanda Ould Bouamama, is a former spokesman for Ansar Dine, an al Qaeda-linked group that joined with other Islamist fighters to seize Mali’s desert north in 2012.
Though driven from northern towns and cities by a French-led military operation a year later, remnants of the Islamist groups remain active.
Ansar Dine last month claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on U.N. peacekeepers and the Malian army in the capital Bamako and border areas near Ivory Coast and Mauritania.
“Freeing an individual of this calibre will obviously allow him to again take up his jihadist activities and continue to commit crimes,” Florent Geel, Africa Desk Director of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), told Reuters.
Biram dah Abeid and Brahim Bilal Ramdhane are currently in prison in Aleg. They refused to appear at the appeals hearing in order to protest the political control of the courts in Mauritania. Recall that this spring the immediate former head of the Mauritanian Bar Association protested the political control of the judiciary publicly and in front of President Aziz.
Djiby Sow is currently in Germany for medical treatment. If he recovers from his kidney disease, he must return to prison to serve out the remainder of his sentence.
The trial of the anti-slavery activists has been politicized from the point of these individuals’ arrest. In violation of the Mauritanian law, that arrest was ordered by the governor of Rosso. The governor has no authority to order arrests. Arrests, according to Mauritanian statute, are supposed to originate with the Procurer (the Prosecutor). The charges against these men were changed numerous times, the alleged “eye witness” statements documenting criminal acts were falsified, and finally, a two year prison term was handed down despite absence of any evidence of a violation that merits two years in prison.
No slave owner in Mauritania, not even self-confessed slave owners, have served two years in prison.
From Facebook IRA – United States
“c’est triste.
la nouvelle loi contre l’esclavage n’a pas pris compte des commentaires des ONGs,
l’autre nouvelle loi (propose) sure les organisations/doit d’association c’est très concernant,
et puis aujourd’hui on voit l’administration encore veut punir les gens qui travail contre l’esclavage
pendant que personne qui est maitre des esclaves n’est pas puni .
Voila, la tristesse qui est la Mauritanie.”
August 20th, 2015 is the date set for the appeal of Biram Dah Abeid and Brahim Bilal Ramdhane. Both men were sentenced in January to two years in prison because of their peaceful anti-slavery advocacy.
The appeal will be heard in Aleg, Mauritania. However, the law in Mauritania states that the appeal should be held in Nouakchott, the nation’s capital. Aleg is a remote town. Holding the appeal there removes Biram and Brahim from their families, from their friends, from their lawyers and from the broader interested public. If the appeal were held in Nouakchott, as the law stipulates, the national and international community would be able to attend the hearing. Held in Aleg, the appeal will be isolated from the people concerned most directly and isolated from the national and international media.
The political authorities are acutely aware of the impact of scheduling the appeal in Aleg rather than in Nouakchott. Removal of the appeal to Aleg is coherent with the other politicized dimensions of the arrest, imprisonment and sentencing of these men. Recall, this government acted with alacrity in prosecuting Abeid and Ramdhane while known owners of slaves routinely escape prosecution.
Biram dah Abeid and Brahim Bilal Ramdhane have therefore resolved not to appear at the appeal. We will see on August 20th how the court responds to this refusal to participate in a politicized appeal.
Below is the Mauritanian defense lawyers’ collective declaration regarding the refusal of their clients to appear at the appeal in Aleg.
Il nous a été donné d’apprendre que la Cour d’appel d’Aleg , tiendra le jeudi, 20 aout 2015, une audience correctionnelle, qu’elle consacrera à l’examen du dossier 285/RP/2014 , dans lequel sont impliqués le président de l’Association IRA son Président , Biram Ould Dah Oud Abeid , son vice président Brahim Ould Bilal Ould Ramdane , et leurs compagnons d’infortune .
A cette occasion, le Collectif d’avocat ayant pris en charge la défense des prévenus, tient à rappeler à l’opinion publique nationale et internationale que ses mandants ont déjà décidé de ne pas comparaitre devant cette juridiction, qui n’est point leur juge naturel, seul pouvant, au regard des conventions internationales et traités, connaitre de leur dossier et d’y dire le droit et la justice.
Les observateurs judiciaires avertis et tous ceux qui suivent le déroulement de cette instance n’ont plus le moindre de doute par rapport au caractère politique de ce procès , notamment depuis le bannissement extrajudiciaire des prévenus de maison d’arrêt de Rosso à la prison d’Aleg,
A été sans lendemains, la tentative visant à couvrir après coup d’un semblant de légalité ce bannissement par une décision de la Cour Suprême soustrayant le dossier des mains de la Cour d’appel à celle d’Aleg, sans aucun moyen de droit.
Nos clients se disent convaincus que l’organisation par le Pouvoir de ce procès, dans des circonstances de lieu et de temps particulièrement défavorables, vise en fait à empêcher l’opinion publique nationale et mondiale – qui est leur principal soutien -, d’assister à cette audience.
Aussi , agissant en totale conformité avec les principes qui fondent la noble profession d’avocat, répondant aux instructions de leurs clients , soucieux du respect des procédures garantissant à tout détenu un procès juste et équitable, loin de l’empreinte politique qui a marqué à ce jour le traitement judiciaire de ce dossier , les avocats, membres du collectif de défense des prévenus , décident de ne pas prendre part, en l’état , à cette audience.
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