Discrimination against black population[edit]
Since independence, critics had said that Mauritania's society has been characterised by discrimination against black populations, mainly Fula and Soninké. These ethnic groups have been seen to contest the political, economic, and social dominance of
Moors. Mauritanian blacks allegedly face discrimination in employment in the civil service, the administration of justice before regular and religious courts, access to loans and credits from banks and state-owned enterprise, and opportunities for education and vocational training. Armed groups such as the now-exiled
FLAM have carried out low-level rebellions in the southern part of Mauritania because of these continuing discriminatory practices.
Modern slavery[edit]
Main article:
Slavery in Mauritania
“
Still today, masters lend their slaves' labor to other individuals, female slaves are sexually exploited and children are made to work and rarely receive an education. Slavery particularly affects women and children, who are the most vulnerable among the vulnerable. Women of child-bearing age have a harder time emancipating because they are producers of slave labor and perceived as extremely valuable.
”
— From U.S. Dept. of State report on
Slavery in Mauritania, 2009
[64]
Slavery still persists in Mauritania. Though slavery was abolished in 1981, it was not illegal to own slaves until 2007. According to the US State Department
2010 Human Rights Report,
[65] abuses in Mauritania include:
...mistreatment of detainees and prisoners; security force impunity; lengthy pretrial detention; harsh prison conditions; arbitrary arrests; limits on freedom of the press and assembly; corruption; discrimination against women; female genital mutilation (FGM); child marriage; political marginalization of southern-based ethnic groups; racial and ethnic discrimination; slavery and slavery-related practices; and child labor.
The report continues: "Government efforts were not sufficient to enforce the antislavery law. No cases have been successfully prosecuted under the antislavery law despite the fact that 'de facto' slavery exists in Mauritania."
Oumoulmoumnine Mint Bakar Vall is the only person prosecuted to date for owning slaves and she was sentenced to six months in jail in January 2011.
[66] In 2012, it was estimated that 10% to 20% of the population of Mauritania (between 340,000 and 680,000 people) live in slavery.
[14]
The Global Slavery Index 2013 released by the anti-slavery charity
Walk Free Foundation ranked Mauritania as one of the nations with the highest rate of slavery, alongside
Pakistan and
Haiti.
[67]
The government of Mauritania denies that slavery continues in the country. In an interview, the Mauritanian Minister of rural development,
Brahim Ould M'Bareck Ould Med El Moctar, responded to accusations of human rights abuse by stating:
I must tell you that in Mauritania, freedom is total: freedom of thought, equality – of all men and women of Mauritania... in all cases, especially with this government, this is in the past. There are probably former relationships – slavery relationships and familial relationships from old days and of the older generations, maybe, or descendants who wish to continue to be in relationships with descendants of their old masters, for familial reasons, or out of affinity, and maybe also for economic interests. But (slavery) is something that is totally finished. All people are free in Mauritania and this phenomenon no longer exists. And I believe that I can tell you that no one profits from this commerce.
[68]
It is difficult to end slavery in Mauritania for the following reasons:
It is difficult to end slavery in Mauritania for the following reasons:
- The difficulty of enforcing any laws in the country's vast desert[14]
- Poverty that limits opportunities for slaves to support themselves if freed[14]
- Belief that slavery is part of the natural order of this society.[14
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauritania
Glad to see you guys supporting your Arab masters
I wouldn't shed a tear of Mauritania disappeared.