Mauritania: 14 people arrested, including human rights activists

Text by: RFI Follow

Fourteen people, including human rights activists, have been arrested in recent days and brought to justice for their relatives say they have expressed opinions favorable to secularism.

Publicity

With our correspondent in Nouakchott, Salem Mejbour Salem

Mauritanian police have cited their participation in unauthorized meetings to justify the arrests. Four people were released, but remain under judicial supervision and the other ten were referred to the State Security, the political police, for further investigation.

The arrests began on February 13. They notably touched personalities known for their activism in favor of respect for human rights.

This is the case of Aminetou Mint Moctar Ely, the president of the Association of Women Heads of Families, several times rewarded for her commitment to human rights. This is also the case for Mekfoula Mint Brahim, winner of the Franco-German Human Rights Prize in 2018 and decorated with the French Legion of Honor.

The arrests targeted practically all members of the Alliance for the Refoundation of the Mauritanian State, a movement founded by Mauritanian intellectuals and whose existence was revealed to the general public by this wave of arrests.

In a statement released Wednesday, the human rights NGO, Amnesty International, said it was extremely concerned about these arrests of human rights defenders in Mauritania, including these famous feminists.

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• Mauritania
• Human rights
• Womens rights

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