Resolution on the sentencing of human rights activists in Mauritania

19-02-1998

The European Parliament,

A. whereas the Mauritanian authorities claim that there is no longer any slavery in Mauritania and that slavery was officially abolished by decree in 1981,

B. whereas, when the Paris-Dakar rally was passing through Mauritania, a team of journalists filmed a television report condemning the continuing practice of slavery in that country,

C. whereas, following the broadcast of the report on 15 January 1998 on a French TV channel relayed to Mauritania by Canal France International, three Mauritanian anti-slavery activists were arrested and are now charged with 'founding and belonging to an unauthorized association' and 'spreading disinformation abroad for nefarious political purposes',

D. whereas the two organizations to which those arrested belong, SOS Esclavage and the Mauritanian Human Rights Association (MHRA), are not authorized by the Mauritanian authorities, but do have observer status on the Organization of African Unity's African Commission on Human and People's Rights,

E. noting that only the President of SOS Esclavage, Boubacar Messaoud, appeared in the report,

F. whereas the activists arrested, Boubacar Messaoud, President of SOS Esclavage, Brahim Ould Ebetti, a lawyer, and Cheikh Saad Bouh Camara, President of the MHRA, were brought before the court of Nouakchott on 8 February 1998 and have since been sentenced to 13 months in prison and heavy fines,

G. whereas the Mauritanian authorities have also brought proceedings against an activist working for SOS Esclavage based in France, Abdel Nasser Ould Yassa, whom they accuse of having 'harmed the image of the country' in an interview with Radio-France and Voice of America,

H. whereas three women who testified in the documentary are being actively sought by the security services,

I. whereas on 5 February 1998, at a demonstration in support of these human rights activists, a number of members of human rights organizations were arrested, including Mrs Fatimata M'Baye, Vice-President of the MHRA,

J. concerned at the escalating repression in Mauritania and drawing attention to the legal action brought recently by the Mauritanian authorities against the media and the activists working for human rights NGOs,

K. whereas the judicial devices used do little to disguise the political nature of the repression,

The European Parliament,

1. Condemns the sentencing of activists working for human rights organizations and demands their immediate and unconditional release;

2. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to bring pressure to bear on the Mauritanian Government to comply with this demand;

3. Calls on the Mauritanian Government to respect in full the fundamental rights of the individual, which is one of the essential conditions for the application of the Lomé Convention to which Mauritania is a party;

4. Reiterates its unreserved condemnation of all forms of slavery and its complete support for the organizations which are fighting to put a stop to these practices once and for all;

5. Calls on the Mauritanian authorities to honour their commitment to eradicate once and for all the practice of slavery in their country;

6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly and the Government of Mauritania.