Nouakchott is the capital and the largest city of Mauritania. It is one of the largest cities in the Sahara.
The International Court of Justice has concluded that in
spite of some evidence of both
Morocco's
and
Mauritania's legal ties
prior to Spanish colonization, neither set of ties was sufficient to affect the
application of the UN General Assembly Declaration on the Granting of
Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples to
Western
Sahara.
Mauritania,
along with Morocco, annexed
the territory of Western
Sahara in 1976, with Mauritania
taking the lower one-third at the request of Spain, a former imperial power.
After several military losses from the Polisario – heavily armed and supported
by Algeria, the regional
power and rival to Morocco –
Mauritania
withdrew in 1979. Its claims were taken over by Morocco.
Due to economic weakness, Mauritania has been a negligible
player in the territorial dispute, with its official position being that it
wishes for an expedient solution that is mutually agreeable to all parties.
While most of Western Sahara has been occupied by Morocco,
the UN still considers the Western Sahara a
territory that needs to express its wishes with respect to statehood. A
referendum, originally scheduled for 1992, is still supposed to be held at some
point in the future, under UN auspices, to determine whether or not the
indigenous Sahrawis wish to be independent, as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic
Republic, or to be part of Morocco.
Ould Daddah era (1960–1978)
Mauritania
became an independent nation in November 1960. In 1964 President Moktar Ould
Daddah, originally installed by the French, formalized Mauritania as a one-party state
with a new constitution, setting up an authoritarian presidential regime.
Daddah's own Parti du Peuple Mauritanien (PPM) became the ruling organization
in a one-party system. The President justified this on the grounds that Mauritania was
not ready for western-style multi-party democracy. Under this one-party
constitution, Daddah was reelected in uncontested elections in 1976 and 1978.
Daddah was ousted in a bloodless coup on 10 July 1978. He
had brought the country to near-collapse through the disastrous war to annex
the southern part of Western Sahara, framed as
an attempt to create a "Greater Mauritania".
CMRN and CMSN military governments (1978–1984)
Chinguetti was a center of Islamic scholarship in West Africa.
Col. Mustafa Ould Salek's CMRN junta proved incapable of
either establishing a strong base of power or extracting the country from its
destabilizing conflict with the Sahrawi resistance movement, the Polisario
Front. It quickly fell, to be replaced by another military government, the
CMSN.
The energetic Colonel Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah soon
emerged as its strongman. By giving up all claims to Western Sahara, he found
peace with the Polisario and improved relations with its main backer, Algeria. But
relations with Morocco,
the other party to the conflict, and its European ally France deteriorated.
Instability continued, and Haidallah's ambitious reform attempts foundered. His
regime was plagued by attempted coups and intrigue within the military
establishment. It became increasingly contested due to his harsh and
uncompromising measures against opponents; many dissidents were jailed, and
some executed. In 1981 slavery was formally abolished by law, making Mauritania the
last country in the world to do so.
Ould Taya's rule (1984–2005)
In December 1984, Haidallah was deposed by Colonel Maaouya
Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, who, while retaining tight military control, relaxed the
political climate. Ould Taya moderated Mauritania's
previous pro-Algerian stance, and re-established ties with Morocco during
the late 1980s. He deepened these ties during the late 1990s and early 2000s as
part of Mauritania's
drive to attract support from Western states and Western-aligned Arab states. Mauritania has not rescinded its recognition of
Polisario's Western Saharan exile government, and remains on good terms with Algeria. Its
position on the Western Sahara conflict is,
since the 1980s, one of strict neutrality.
Ordinance 83.127, enacted 5 June 1983, launched the process
of nationalization of all land not clearly the property of a documented owner,
thus abolishing the traditional system of land tenure. Potential
nationalization was based on the concept of "dead land", i.e.,
property which has not been developed or on which obvious development cannot be
seen. A practical effect was government seizure of traditional communal grazing
lands.;42, 60
Political parties, illegal during the military period, were
legalized again in 1991. By April 1992, as civilian rule returned, 16 major
political parties had been recognized; 12 major political parties were active
in 2004. The Parti Républicain Démocratique et Social (PRDS), formerly led by
President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, dominated Mauritanian politics after the
country's first multi-party elections in April 1992, following the approval by
referendum of the current constitution in July 1991. President Taya won
elections in 1992 and 1997. Most opposition parties boycotted the first
legislative election in 1992. For nearly a decade the parliament was dominated
by the PRDS. The opposition participated in municipal elections in
January–February 1994, and in subsequent Senate elections – most recently in
April 2004 – and gained representation at the local level, as well as three
seats in the Senate.
This period was marked by extensive ethnic violence and
human rights abuses. Between 1990 and 1991, a campaign of particularly extreme
violence took place against a background of Arabization, interference with
blacks' association rights, expropriation and expatriation.
Aerial view of Nouakchott.
The population of Nouakchott
has increased from 20,000 in 1969 to almost 1 million in 2013.
In October 1987, the government allegedly uncovered a
tentative coup d'état by a group of black army officers, backed, according to the
authorities, by Senegal.
Fifty-one officers were arrested and subjected to interrogation and torture.
Heightened ethnic tensions were the catalyst for the Mauritania–Senegal Border
War, which started as a result of a conflict in Diawara between Moorish Mauritanian
herders and Senegalese farmers over grazing rights. On 9 April 1989,
Mauritanian guards killed two Senegalese.
Following the incident, several riots erupted in Bakel, Dakar and other towns in Senegal, directed against the
mainly Arabized Mauritanians who dominated the local retail business. The
rioting, adding to already existing tensions, led to a campaign of terror
against black Mauritanians, who are often seen as 'Senegalese' by Bidha'an,
regardless of their nationality. As low scale conflict with Senegal
continued into 1990/91, the Mauritanian government engaged in or encouraged
acts of violence and seizures of property directed against the Halpularen
ethnic group. The tension culminated in an international airlift agreed to by Senegal and Mauritania under international
pressure to prevent further violence. The Mauritanian Government expelled tens
of thousands of black Mauritanians. Most of these so-called 'Senegalese' had no
ties to Senegal, and many
have been repatriated from Senegal
and Mali
after 2007. The exact number of expulsions is not known but the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that, as of June 1991, 52,995
Mauritanian refugees were living in Senegal and at least 13,000 in Mali :27
From November 1990 to February 1991, between 200 and 600
(depending on the sources) Fula and Soninke soldiers and/or political prisoners
were executed or tortured to death by Mauritanian government forces. They were
among 3,000 to 5,000 blacks – predominantly soldiers and civil servants –
arrested between October 1990 and mid-January 1991. Some Mauritanian exiles
believe that the number was as high as 5,000 on the basis of alleged
involvement in an attempt to overthrow the government.
The government initiated a military investigation but never
released the results. In order to guarantee immunity for those responsible and
to block any attempts at accountability for past abuses, the Parliament
declared an amnesty in June 1993 covering all crimes committed by the armed
forces, security forces as well as civilians, between April 1989 and April
1992. The government offered compensation to families of victims, which a few
accepted in lieu of settlement. Despite this amnesty, some Mauritanians have
denounced the involvement of the government in the arrests and killings :87
In the late 1980s, Ould Taya had established close
co-operation with Iraq,
and pursued a strongly Arab nationalist line. Mauritania grew increasingly
isolated internationally, and tensions with Western countries grew dramatically
after it took a pro-Iraqi position during the 1991 Gulf War. During the mid-to
late 1990s, Mauritania
shifted its foreign policy to one of increased co-operation with the US and Europe.
It was rewarded with diplomatic normalization and aid projects. On 28 October
1999, Mauritania joined Egypt, Palestine,
and Jordan as the only
members of the Arab League to officially recognize Israel. Ould Taya also started
co-operating with the United
States in anti-terrorism activities, a
policy which was criticized by some human rights organizations. (See also
Foreign relations of Mauritania.)
A group of current and former Army officers launched a
violent and unsuccessful coup attempt on 8 June 2003. The leaders of the
attempted coup escaped from the country, but some of them were caught, later
on. Mauritania's
presidential election, its third since adopting the democratic process in 1992,
took place on 7 November 2003. Six candidates, including Mauritania's first female and first Haratine
(descended from the original inhabitants of the Tassili n'Ajjer and Acacus Mountains
during the Epipalaeolithic era)candidates, represented a wide variety of
political goals and backgrounds. Incumbent President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed
Taya won reelection with 67.0% of the popular vote, according to the official
figures, with Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla finishing second.
August 2005 military coup
On 3 August 2005, a military coup led by Colonel Ely Ould
Mohamed Vall ended Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya's twenty-one years of rule.
Taking advantage of Taya's attendance at the funeral of Saudi King Fahd, the
military, including members of the presidential guard, seized control of key
points in the capital Nouakchott.
The coup proceeded without loss of life. Calling themselves the Military
Council for Justice and Democracy, the officers released the following
statement:
"The national armed forces and security forces have
unanimously decided to put a definitive end to the oppressive activities of the
defunct authority, which our people have suffered from during the past
years."
The Military Council later issued another statement naming
Colonel Vall as president and director of the national police force, the Sûreté
Nationale. Vall, once regarded as a firm ally of the now-ousted president, had
aided Taya in the coup that had originally brought him to power, and had later
served as his security chief. Sixteen other officers were listed as members of
the Council.
Though cautiously watched by the international community,
the coup came to be generally accepted, with the military junta organizing
elections within a promised two-year timeline. In a referendum on 26 June 2006,
Mauritanians overwhelmingly (97%) approved a new constitution which limited the
duration of a president's stay in office. The leader of the junta, Col. Vall,
promised to abide by the referendum and relinquish power peacefully. Mauritania's establishment of relations with Israel – it is one of only three Arab states to
recognize Israel
– was maintained by the new regime, despite widespread criticism from the
opposition. They considered that position as a legacy of the Taya regime's
attempts to curry favor with the West.
Parliamentary and municipal elections in Mauritania took place on 19
November and 3 December 2006.
2007 presidential elections
Mauritania's
first fully democratic presidential elections took place on 11 March 2007. The
elections effected the final transfer from military to civilian rule following
the military coup in 2005. This was the first time since Mauritania
gained independence in 1960 that it elected a president in a multi-candidate
election.
The elections were won in a second round of voting by Sidi
Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, with Ahmed Ould Daddah a close second.
2008 military coup
On 6 August 2008, the head of the presidential guards took
over the president's palace in Nouakchott, a day after 48 lawmakers from the
ruling party resigned in protest of President Abdallahi's policies.[which?] The
army surrounded key government facilities, including the state television
building, after the president fired senior officers, one of them the head of
the presidential guards. The President, Prime Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghef,
and Mohamed Ould R'zeizim, Minister of Internal Affairs, were arrested.
The coup was coordinated by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz,
former chief of staff of the Mauritanian Army and head of the presidential
guard, who had recently been fired. Mauritania's presidential
spokesman, Abdoulaye Mamadouba, said the President, Prime Minister, and
Interior Minister had been arrested by renegade Senior Mauritanian army
officers and were being held under house arrest at the presidential palace in
the capital. In the apparently successful and bloodless coup, Abdallahi's
daughter, Amal Mint Cheikh Abdallahi, said: "The security agents of the
BASEP (Presidential Security Battalion) came to our home and took away my
father." The coup plotters, all dismissed in a presidential decree shortly
beforehand, included Abdel Aziz, General Muhammad Ould Al-Ghazwani, General
Philippe Swikri, and Brigadier General (Aqid) Ahmad Ould Bakri.
After the coup
A Mauritanian lawmaker, Mohammed Al Mukhtar, claimed that
many of the country's people supported the takeover of a government that had
become "an authoritarian regime" under a president who had
"marginalized the majority in parliament." The coup was also backed
by Abdallahi's rival in the 2007 election, Ahmed Ould Daddah. However, Abdel
Aziz's regime was isolated internationally, and became subject to diplomatic
sanctions and the cancellation of some aid projects. It found few foreign
supporters (among them Morocco, Libya and Iran), while Algeria, the United
States, France and other European countries criticized the coup, and continued
to refer to Abdallahi as the legitimate president of Mauritania. Domestically,
a group of parties coalesced around Abdallahi to continue protesting the coup,
which caused the junta to ban demonstrations and crack down on opposition
activists. International and internal pressure eventually forced the release of
Abdallahi, who was instead placed under house arrest in his home village. The
new government broke off relations with Israel. In March 2010, Mauritania's female foreign minister Mint Hamdi
Ould Mouknass announced that Mauritania
had cut ties with Israel
in a "complete and definitive way."
After the coup, Abdel Aziz insisted on holding new
presidential elections to replace Abdallahi, but was forced to reschedule them
due to internal and international opposition. During the spring of 2009, the
junta negotiated an understanding with some opposition figures and
international parties. As a result, Abdallahi formally resigned under protest,
as it became clear that some opposition forces had defected from him and most
international players, notably including France
and Algeria,
now aligned with Abdel Aziz. The United States continued to
criticize the coup, but did not actively oppose the elections.
Abdallahi's resignation allowed the election of Abdel Aziz
as civilian president, on 18 July, by a 52% majority. Many of Abdallahi's
former supporters criticized this as a political ploy and refused to recognize
the results. They argued that the election had been falsified due to junta
control, and complained that the international community had let down the
opposition. Despite complaints, the elections were almost unanimously accepted
by Western, Arab and African countries, which lifted sanctions and resumed relations
with Mauritania.
By late summer, Abdel Aziz appeared to have secured his position and to have
gained widespread international and internal support. Some figures, such as
Senate chairman Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, continued to refuse the new order and
call for Abdel Aziz's resignation.
In February 2011, the waves of the Arab Spring spread to Mauritania,
where thousands of people took to the streets of the capital.
In November 2014, Mauritania
was invited as a non-member guest nation to the G20 summit in Brisbane.
In August 2019, Mohamed Ould Ghazouani was sworn in as Mauritania’s tenth president since its
independence from France
in 1960. His predecessor Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz ran the African desert country
for 10 years. The ruling party Union for the
Republic (UPR) was founded by Aziz in 2009.
Demographics
A Moorish family in the Adrar Plateau.
As of 2018, Mauritania
has a population of approximately 4.3 million. The local population is composed
of three main ethnicities: Bidhan or white Moors, Haratin or black moors, and
West Africans. 53% Bidhan, 30% Haratin, and 17% others. Local statistics bureau
estimations indicate that the Bidhan represent around 53% of citizens. They
speak Hassaniya Arabic and are primarily of Arab-Berber origin. The Haratin
constitute roughly 34% of the population. They are descendants of the original
inhabitants of the Tassili n'Ajjer and Acacus Mountain
sites during the Epipalaeolithic era. The remaining 13% of the population
largely consists of various ethnic groups of West African descent. Among these
are the Niger-Congo-speaking Halpulaar (Fulbe), Soninke, Bambara and Wolof.
Religion
Mauritania
is almost 100% Muslim, with most inhabitants adhering to the Sunni denomination.
The Sufi orders, the Tijaniyah and the Qadiriyyah, have great influence not
only in the country, but in Morocco, Algeria, Senegal and other neighborhood
countries as well. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Nouakchott, founded in 1965,
serves the 4,500 Catholics in Mauritania
(mostly foreign residents from West Africa and Europe).
There are extreme restrictions on freedom of religion and
belief in Mauritania;
it is one of thirteen countries in the world which punishes atheism by death.
On 27 April 2018, The National Assembly passed a law that makes the death
penalty mandatory for anyone convicted of "blasphemous speech" and
acts deemed "sacrilegious". The new law eliminates the possibility
under article 306 of substituting prison terms for the death penalty for
certain apostasy-related crimes if the offender promptly repents. The law also
provides for a sentence of up to two years in prison and a fine of up to
600,000 Ouguiyas (approximately EUR 14,630) for "offending public
indecency and Islamic values" and for "breaching Allah’s
prohibitions" or assisting in their breach.
Languages
Arabic is the official and national language of Mauritania. The
local spoken variety, known as Hassaniya, contains many Berber words and
significantly differs from the Modern Standard Arabic that is used for official
communication. Pulaar, Soninke and Wolof also serve as national languages.
French is widely used in the media and among educated classes.
Health
As of 2011, life expectancy at birth was 61.14 years. Per
capita expenditure on health was 43 US$ (PPP) in 2004. Public
expenditure was 2% of the GDP in 2004 and private 0.9% of the GDP in 2004. In
the early 21st century, there were 11 physicians per 100,000 people. Infant
mortality is 60.42 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 estimate).
The obesity rate among Mauritanian women is high, perhaps in
part due to the traditional standards of beauty (in some regions in the
country), in which obese women are considered beautiful while thin women are
considered sickly.
Education
Since 1999, all teaching in the first year of primary school
is in Modern Standard Arabic; French is introduced in the second year, and is
used to teach all scientific courses. The use of English is increasing.
Mauritania
has the University
of Nouakchott and other
institutions of higher education, but the majority of highly educated
Mauritanians have studied outside the country. Public expenditure on education
was at 10.1% of 2000–2007 government expenditure.
Geography
Mauritania
lies in the western region of the continent of Africa,
and is generally flat, its 1,030,700 square kilometres forming vast, arid
plains broken by occasional ridges and clifflike outcroppings. It borders the
North Atlantic Ocean, between Senegal
and Western Sahara, Mali
and Algeria.
It is considered part of both the Sahel and the Maghreb.
Approximately three-quarters of Mauritania
is desert or semidesert. As a result of extended, severe drought, the desert
has been expanding since the mid-1960s.
A series of scarps face southwest, longitudinally bisecting
these plains in the center of the country. The scarps also separate a series of
sandstone plateaus, the highest of which is the Adrar Plateau, reaching an
elevation of 500 metres or 1,600 feet. Spring-fed oases lie at the foot of some
of the scarps. Isolated peaks, often rich in minerals, rise above the plateaus;
the smaller peaks are called guelbs and the larger ones kedias. The concentric
Guelb er Richat is a prominent feature of the north-central region. Kediet ej
Jill, near the city of Zouîrât,
has an elevation of 915 metres (3,000 ft) and is the highest peak. The plateaus
gradually descend toward the northeast to the barren El Djouf, or "Empty
Quarter," a vast region of large sand dunes that merges into the Sahara Desert.
To the west, between the ocean and the plateaus, are alternating areas of
clayey plains (regs) and sand dunes (ergs), some of which shift from place to
place, gradually moved by high winds. The dunes generally increase in size and
mobility toward the north.
Belts of natural vegetation, corresponding to the rainfall
pattern, extend from east to west and range from traces of tropical forest
along the Sénégal River to brush and savanna
in the southeast. Only sandy desert is found in the centre and north of the
country. Mauritania
is home to seven terrestrial ecoregions: Sahelian Acacia savanna, West Sudanian
savanna, Saharan halophytics, Atlantic coastal desert, North Saharan steppe and
woodlands, South Saharan steppe and woodlands, and West Saharan montane xeric
woodlands.
The Richat Structure, dubbed the "Eye of the
Sahara", is a formation of rock resembling concentric circles in the Adrar
Plateau, near Ouadane, west–central Mauritania.
Wildlife
Faunal Regions and Habitats
Most of the north to about 19° North is regarded as being in
the Palearctic, and is largely made up of the
Sahara
desert and adjacent littoral habitats. South of this is regarded as being in
the afrotropical biogeographic realm, which means that species of a
predominantly Afotropical distribution dominate the fauna. South of the
Sahara is the South Saharan Steppe and Woodlands
ecoregion which integrates into the Sahelian Acacia Savanna ecoregion. The
southernmost part of the country lies in the West Sudanian Savanna ecoregion.
Wetlands are important and the two main protected areas are
the Banc d'Arguin
National Park which protects rich,
shallow coastal and marine ecosystems which integrates with the arid Sahara
desert and the Diawling National Park which forms the northern part of the
delta of the Senegal River. Elsewhere in Mauritania
wetlands are normally ephemeral and rely on the seasonal rainfall and may be
very important for migratory birds.
Mammals
Golden Jackal
Most of the larger mammal species have been extirpated from Mauritania.
Among the antelopes the Scimitar-horned oryx, addax, korrigum and dama gazelle
are extinct, the bohor reedbuck, Buffon's kob, Dorcas gazelle and red-fronted
gazelle are extinct and the bushbuck and slender-horned gazelle are of
indeterminate status. In the area of Diawling National Park, the last lion was
shot in 1970 and there have been no sightings of manatees or hippopotamus in
recent years. The Mediterranean monk seal has one of its last strongholds in
the world in the coves along the Cap
Blanc Peninsula
near Nouadhibou. Common extant mammals include fennec fox, golden jackals,
warthogs, African wildcats, Cape hares and patas monkeys.
The rich offshore waters of Mauritania are home to a diverse
fauna of cetaceans. Upwellings off the coats create rich feeding grounds for
baleen whales and these include blue whale, sei whale and Bryde's whale,
although the North Atlantic right whale is now extinct in the eastern Atlantic
and it was recorded off Mauritania.
Other cetaceans found off Mauritania's
coast include harbour porpoise, Atlantic spotted dolphin, bottlenose dolphin,
sperm whale, short-finned pilot whale and orca.
Birds
Arabian Bustard
Over 500 species of bird have been recorded in Mauritania.
Specialities and spectacular species include scissor-tailed kite, Nubian
bustard, Arabian bustard, houbara bustard Egyptian plover, golden nightjar,
chestnut-bellied starling, Kordofan lark and Sudan golden sparrow.
The coastal wetlands are of immense importance for over two
million wintering Western Palearctic waders, from fifteen different species
including dunlin, bar-tailed godwit, curlew sandpiper and common redshank each
numbering over 100,000 birds. Other wintering species include more than 30,000
greater flamingos Breeding birds include great white pelican, reed cormorant,
gull-billed tern, Caspian tern, royal tern and common tern, together with two
unique subspecies of grey heron Ardea cinerea monicae and Eurasian spoonbill
Platalea leucorodia balsaci and an outpost of the western reef heron.
Herpetofauna
The West African crocodile still exists in small numbers in Mauritania. Other
reptiles found include the African chameleon, Senegal chameleon, Nile monitor,
various geckos and other lizards, the Mali cobra and Black-necked spitting
cobra, African rock python, the desert horned viper and the Saharan sand viper,
puff adders are among the snakes, as well as terrestrial, freshwater and marine
turtles. In all 86 species of reptile in 21 families have been recorded in
Mauritania Eleven species of amphibian have been confirmed as occurring in
Mauritania but another 19 are expected to be recorded, mainly in the south of
the country.
Fish
The marine fish found off Mauritania's coast are an important
resource for commercial, subsistence and sport fishing, estimates put the
potential catch at between 400,000 and 700,000 tons. The rich waters off the
Mauritanian coast are host to a variety of species more familiar in more
northerly temperate waters such as European seabass, European hake, Norwegian
skate and Gilt-head bream, as well as species more typical of warmer waters
including whale shark, Atlantic bluefin tuna, Atlantic sailfish, tarpon and
Atlantic blue marlin 56 species of freshwater fish have been reported from
Mauritania of which 50 have been confirmed as occurring.
Economy
Despite being rich in natural resources, Mauritania has
a low GDP. A majority of the population still depends on agriculture and
livestock for a livelihood, even though most of the nomads and many subsistence
farmers were forced into the cities by recurrent droughts in the 1970s and
1980s. Mauritania has extensive deposits of iron ore, which account for almost
50% of total exports. Gold and copper mining companies are opening mines in the
interior.
The country's first deepwater port opened near Nouakchott in 1986. In
recent years, drought and economic mismanagement have resulted in a buildup of
foreign debt. In March 1999, the government signed an agreement with a joint
World Bank-International Monetary Fund mission on a $54 million enhanced
structural adjustment facility (ESAF). Privatization remains one of the key
issues. Mauritania
is unlikely to meet ESAF's annual GDP growth objectives of 4–5%.
Oil was discovered in Mauritania in 2001 in the offshore
Chinguetti field. Although potentially significant for the Mauritanian economy,
its overall influence is difficult to predict. Mauritania
has been described as a "desperately poor desert nation, which straddles
the Arab and African worlds and is Africa's
newest, if small-scale, oil producer." There may be additional oil
reserves inland in the Taoudeni basin, although the harsh environment will make
extraction expensive.
The United
Arab Emirates government, via its pilot
green city Masdar, installed new solar plants supply an additional 16.6
megawatts of electricity. The plants will power about 39,000 homes and save
27,850 tonnes of carbon emissions per year. Mauritania is ranked second in the
index of geopolitical gains and losses after energy transition (GeGaLo Index),
making it potentially one of the main winners in the global transition to
renewable energy.
Human rights
The Abdallahi government was widely perceived as corrupt and
restricted access to government information. Sexism, racism, female genital
mutilation, child labour, human trafficking, and the political marginalization
of largely southern-based ethnic groups continued to be problems. Homosexuality
is illegal and is a capital offence in Mauritania.
Following the 2008 coup, the military government of Mauritania
faced severe international sanctions and internal unrest. Amnesty International
accused it of practicing coordinated torture against criminal and political
detainees. Amnesty has accused the Mauritanian legal system, both before and
after the 2008 coup, of functioning with complete disregard for legal
procedure, fair trial, or humane imprisonment. The organization has said that
the Mauritanian government has practiced institutionalized and continuous use
of torture throughout its post-independence history, under all its leaders.
Amnesty International in 2008 alleged that torture was
common in Mauritania,
stating that its usage is "deeply anchored in the culture of the security
forces", which use it "as a system of investigation and
repression". Forms of torture employed include cigarette burns, electric
shocks and sexual violence, stated Amnesty International. In 2014, the United
States Department of State identified torture by Mauritanian law enforcement as
one of the "central human rights problems" in the country. Juan E.
Méndez, an independent expert on human rights from the United Nations, reported
in 2016 that legal protections against torture were present but not applied in Mauritania,
pointing to an "almost total absence of investigations into allegations of
torture".
According to the US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report.
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.
Modern slavery
Slavery persists in Mauritania, despite it being
outlawed. It is the result of a historical caste system, resulting in
descent-based slavery. Those enslaved are darker-skinned Haratin, with their
owners being lighter-skinned Moors.
In 1905, the French colonial administration declared an end
of slavery in Mauritania,
with very little success. Although nominally abolished in 1981, it was not
illegal to own slaves until 2007.
The US State Department 2010 Human Rights Report states,
"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."
In 2012, it was estimated that 10% to 20% of the population
of Mauritania
(between 340,000 and 680,000 people) live in slavery.
In 2012, a government minister stated that slavery "no
longer exists" in Mauritania.
However, according to the Walk Free Foundation's Global Slavery Index, there
were an estimated 90,000 enslaved people in Mauritania in 2018 or around 2% of
the population.
Obstacles to ending slavery in Mauritania include:
The difficulty of enforcing any laws in the country's vast
desert
Poverty that limits opportunities for slaves to support
themselves if freed
Belief that slavery is part of the natural order of this
society.
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