Mauritania: Amnesty concerned after arrest of human rights activists

Amnesty International said on Wednesday 19 February that it was " extremely concerned " by the arrest in Mauritania of two famous feminists and human rights activists, accused alongside 12 others of damaging the national unity and the religious character of this organization. Islamic Republic of West Africa.

A judicial source in Nouakchott confirmed to AFP the arrest last week of 14 people, four of whom have been released but are still being prosecuted.

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During a hearing Tuesday before a court in Nouakchott, the prosecutor returned their files to state security, responsible for " clarifying and deepening certain aspects of the investigation, " according to this source.

In one section of the file, the hearing focused on the secularism advocated by some of the defendants, alleged members of the Alliance for the Refoundation of the Mauritanian State (Arem), a movement created at the beginning of the year in Paris. Its founding manifesto advocates a " divorce from the old practices of bad governance, injustice and impunity ".

AREM activists are " suspected of damaging national unity, social cohesion, and religion, while Mauritania is an Islamic republic ", according to the judicial source.

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Among those accused are two personalities known for years for their defense of human rights, in particular women, Aminetou Mint El Moctar and Mekfoula Mint Brahim, François Patuel, an Amnesty researcher for Africa confirmed to AFP. 'Where is.

Aminetou Mint El Moctar is the second vice-president of Arem, according to the association's manifesto. She was released under judicial supervision, said Amnesty International.

Mekfoula Mint Brahim, winner of the Franco-German Human Rights Prize in 2018 and decorated with the French Legion of Honor in December, was also released on parole, according to the NGO. " Without taboos, it supports the movement of Mauritanian youth in favor of secularism and freedom of sexual orientation ", can be read about it on the website of the French Embassy in Mauritania. She had been arrested for hosting a meeting of the AREM in her hostel, of which she denies being a member, according to a judicial source. " We know she is being prosecuted for hosting a meeting without notifying the authorities. For the others arrested, the charges are unclear, "said Mr. Patuel, saying he did not know who it was exactly. Another part of the case concerns three people " caught in the act of distributing copies of the Bible ", according to a source familiar with the matter.

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After a new president, Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, came to power in August, Amnesty called on the government to " put an end to the harassment of human rights defenders ," said Patuel. " We reiterate this call and ask for the immediate release of these people if they are only prosecuted for exercising their freedom of expression and assembly ."