Mauritania: No Democracy for Opposition Voices

Mauritania: No Democracy for Opposition Voices

(New York, September 3, 2003) - The Mauritanian government's harassment of
opposition figures undermines any chance of free and fair elections, Human
Rights Watch said in a letter to the Mauritanian president today.

From late April, Mauritanian security forces arrested dozens of religious
leaders, opposition politicians and social activists, allegedly in a campaign
to crack down on terrorist movements in Mauritania. The government recently
released all those arrested, a gesture timed to coincide with the
announcement of presidential elections scheduled for November 7. Yet they
still face trial on unfounded charges of treason.

"The government put forward no credible evidence that those arrested had been
involved in any terrorist activities," said Peter Takirambudde, executive
director of the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. "It seems that this is
yet another example of a government opportunistically using the language of
counter-terrorism to crack down on legitimate dissent."

In an open letter to President Ould Sid Ahmed Taya Human Rights Watch also
expressed concern about a yet-to-be determined number of military officers
detained incommunicado following an alleged coup attempt on June 8.

"The lack of access to the military officers that are in detention raises
serious concerns about their treatment, given past reports of inhuman
conditions of detention in Mauritania," Human Rights Watch said. "Those
military officers still detained should be charged and tried promptly with
full respect for due process standards."

The Mauritanian government has restricted rights to freedom of expression and
association for many years. Non-governmental organizations such as human
rights groups and the media are repeatedly shut down, refused access to
public forums or censored for expressing opinions critical of government
policies.

Human Rights Watch therefore urges the government to abolish the laws
governing censorship of the media and to allow legitimate human rights and
other charitable organizations to function freely.

The open letter to Mauritanian President Taya is available at the following
location: http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/09/mauritania-ltr.htm