Arrests in Mauritania raise fears of declining freedom of expression

Salik Zaid-Nouakchott

The young novelist and journalist Sheikh Noah, the deputy head of the coalition for the re-establishment of Mauritania, heard about the arrest of a member of the organization, so he went to him to check on him and find out the reasons for the arrest. He never thought that he was going to arrest him.

The police had a list of names intended to arrest the owners, some of them within the coalition for the return of Mauritania and others in the movement "We want a secular Mauritania."

In a statement to Al-Jazeera Net, Sheikh Noah says that he does not know a clear reason for his arrest or the arrest of his comrades who later numbered more than ten, distributed among several police commissions.

bad conditions
Sheikh Al-Noah talks about the great suffering that his companions lived with throughout the days that they spent among the commissions, and some of them still live as they have not been released yet.

Sheikh Noah says to Al-Jazeera Net that when he was arrested, he was not allowed to contact his family or his lawyer, and he was put with four people in a cell less than three square meters, and they used them as a bathroom and they had all the unpleasant smells that a person imagined.

Sheikh Noah adds that the police searched their phones and leaked the privacy of some of them, and they did not allow him to visit a doctor, especially as he suffers from a chronic disease, except when parties including the Journalists Syndicate that he is a member of.

Sheikh Noah considers that he did not get his full freedom because he is still under surveillance, and that he must sign every day at the police, and despite the passage of more than a week after the arrest of his colleagues, he confirmed that their circumstances have not changed.

Abdullah Salem Ould Yali, one of the detainees who was released, is satisfied with saying to Al-Jazeera Net, “I did not know the reason for my arrest and I did not know the reason for my release.

Decline in freedoms
Commenting on the arrests, Amnesty International published a statement calling on the Mauritanian authorities to release the detainees immediately, and considered that this arrest falls within the framework of restricting freedom of expression and assembly, calling on the Mauritanian government to listen to everyone.

The general coordinator of the opposition "We Can" movement, which published a statement denouncing the recent arrests, journalist activist Al-Rabi Ould Idoumou considered in a statement to Al-Jazeera Net that these arrests are a clear regression of freedom of expression in the country, which is not encouraging optimism in this field, especially since the ruling regime He is still in the beginning of his reign.

Rabi Ould Idoumou denounced what he called "defaming activists" by linking them to topics not related to their work, as well as publishing false accusations of public opinion.

The lawyer of the arrested activists, Aisha Al-Salama Al-Mustafa, refused to comment on the issue of the arrest, but assured Al-Jazeera Net that their file had been transferred from the police to the state security, and they would be presented to the prosecutor later.

He refused to move
The deputy of the Alliance for the Re-establishment of Mauritania, who was released with the guarantee of a lawyer, confirmed that during the investigation the police were interrogating him on random issues, once about the organization and once about his relationship with groups on WhatsApp, in which some discussed religious matters.

He added that the police wanted him to tell her what she wanted and not the truth, considering that all this is intended to strike the political movement that they started establishing in Mauritania, because they see that the Mauritanian regime has not changed reality yet and wants to promote the illusion of the Mauritanian people.