Mauritania

Two journalists from two different publications were arrested for defamation and only released after a sit in staged by fellow colleagues.

The newspaper crisis in Mauritania highlights media freedom and sustainability issues in the country.

Mauritanian authorities arrested photojournalist Seif Kousmate earlier this month claiming he was a suspected terrorist. They also cited “his activism in support of the cause of the descendants of slaves,” before they deported him.

Only a week after crowds were still calling for his execution in street protests, a Mauritanian blogger sentenced to death in 2014 for “blaspheming” the Prophet is finally freed.

The Mauritanian Radio and Television Broadcast Authority ordered Mauritania’s five privately owned news stations to shut down for “failing to fulfil their financial agreements” with the country’s broadcast regulator.

Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mohamed faces the death penalty following a conviction on blasphemy charges.

A talk with Freedom House brings light to why so many anti-slavery activists are harassed and jailed in Mauritania.

Diop Amatidjane, third vice president of IRA-Mauritania, was arrested June 30 by police at his home. Police also arrested Balla Touré, external relations officer. The whereabouts of Amatidjane and Touré along with four other IRA members remain unknown.

On 26 May 2016, a Mauritanian journalist was summarily dismissed from his post for mispronouncing the name of the wife of President Mohammed Ould Abdoul Aziz.

“Civil society plays a crucial role in eradicating slavery in Mauritania, a role the government of Mauritania should recognize by releasing all other activists imprisoned for advancing the cause of equal rights.”

In light of attacks on anti-slavery demonstrators and journalists covering slavery issues, including instances of self-censorship, over the last five years, the MFWA demands Mauritania to reform its stance on free expression rights.

“It is the height of hypocrisy for the court in Mauritania to reaffirm these sentences against anti-slavery activists the same week that the government strengthened its laws against slavery.”

During his trial, the judge told Mohamed Mkhaïtir that he was accused of apostasy for “speaking lightly” of the Prophet Mohamed. This is the first death sentence imposed in Mauritania for apostasy since independence in 1960.

Biram Dah Abeid, president of anti-slavery organization Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement in Mauritania (IRA); Brahim Bilal Ramdhane, IRA’s vice president; and Djiby Sow, president of the non-governmental organization Kawtal, have been sentenced to two years imprisonment by a Mauritanian court.

Mauritanian blogger Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mohamed was arrested on January 2, 2014, for his December 31, 2013, article, called “Religion, religiosity and craftsmen,” which criticized Mauritania’s caste system.

On 11 November 2014, Biram Dab Abeid was beaten and arrested for his participation in an anti-slavery protest and remains imprisoned today. Freedom House interviewed Biram in December 2013. He discussed the dire situation surrounding slavery in Mauritania, which has the highest incidence of slavery in the world.