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Friday, January 16, 2015
Mauritanian police have jailed more than one for holding anti-slavery rallies, according to an Amnesty International report. The anti-slavery activists who were sentenced to two years in jail are Brahim Bilal, Djiby Sow and Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid, a former presidential candidate. They were convicted of membership of an unrecognized organization and of taking part in an unauthorized assembly.
Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid is the president of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA) and was the runner-up in Mauritania’s June 2014 presidential elections. He also won the UN Human Rights Prize in 2013.
Seven other activists were acquitted.
Police stopped the meeting citing the absence of any authorization documents, despite the IRA having requested them. The anti-slavery protesters demonstrating in front of the court were dispersed by police using tear gas and batons.
“The conviction of these activists for taking part in peaceful protests on charges which are vague and open to abuse violates their human rights to free expression and freedom of peaceful assembly,’’ said Gaetan Mootoo, Amnesty International West Africa Researcher. “The failure to obtain a permit for a peaceful assembly should never be the basis for imprisonment. Their conviction appears to be politically motivated with members of the group targeted on account of their peaceful activism. The authorities should take immediate steps to release them while their appeal is pending.”
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