(RSF/IFEX) – On 22 August 2002, RSF protested the Interior Ministry’s decision to ban the latest issue of the weekly “Le Calame”‘s Arabic-language edition. The newspaper carried a report about a demonstrations that took place during President Maaouiya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya’s recent visit to France. “This measure demonstrates yet again to what degree human […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 22 August 2002, RSF protested the Interior Ministry’s decision to ban the latest issue of the weekly “Le Calame”‘s Arabic-language edition. The newspaper carried a report about a demonstrations that took place during President Maaouiya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya’s recent visit to France.
“This measure demonstrates yet again to what degree human rights issues are taboo in Mauritania,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said in a letter to Interior Minister Lemrabott Sidi Mahmoud Ould Cheikh Ahmed. At least six newspapers have been censored by the Interior Ministry in the past year.
In this latest case, the Interior Ministry refused to authorise the printing of the Arabic-language edition of “Le Calame”‘s issue 219 (dated 19 August), in accordance with Article 11 of the 1991 Press Law. The article in question states that the Interior Ministry may, by decree, “ban the circulation, distribution or sale of newspapers which jeopardize the credibility of the state”. The ministry does not have to justify its decision and can simply send a written “notification” to the newspaper and printing press.
The controversial issue of “Le Calame” included an article about the president’s recent private trip to France, which was marked by demonstrations by Mauritanian opposition movements and French human rights organisations.
