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Rights groups accuses Mauritania of trying to cover up slavery

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Jackie Gregory
WVoN co-editor

Human rights campaigners are calling for sentences handed to four men protesting about the enslavement of a 10-year-old girl to be revoked.

The men were arrested in Mauritania earlier this month and charged with unauthorised gathering and rebellion.

They were given  six-month suspended sentences, which means if they protest again they could be jailed.

Members of Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA Mauritanie) in Mauritania held a demonstration on August 4 after a woman was charged with enslaving a minor but provisionally released.

The 10-year-old girl in question is still missing.

Calling for the sentences to be squashed, Erwin van der Borght, Amnesty International’s Africa Director, said: “Sentencing people for simply exercising their right to peaceful protest is a travesty of justice.”

“The draconian response to the work of these activists suggests that the Mauritanian authorities are trying to cover up the fact that slavery takes place in the country.”

The four men are named as Tourad Ould Zeid, Cheikhna Ould Cheyakh, Moulay Abdel Karim Touré and Moctar Ould Mohamed.

Another activist who was arrested at the same protest told the human rights campaign group that he had been beaten by police while in custody.

“They kicked me with their heavy boots and punched me, forcing me into a cell with teargas. After ten minutes, I fainted. The police called me a dog. My left hand was chained to my left leg and my diet consisted only of bread and water,” he said.

Cases of slavery continue to be documented in Mauritania although the practice was abolished in 1981.

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