Haratin: The repressive political climate in Mauritania

December 27, 2022

The outlawed political party called Radical pour une Action Global or Radical for global action (RAG) calls on the government of Mauritania to respect the principle of democracy in particular a multi-partite system in democracy and to immediately stop of criminalization of RAG members.

RAG is the political party of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement, known as IRA-Mauritania whose objective is to eradicate all forms of slavery, racism and corruption in Mauritania. Although this political organization exists and is supported by a large number of people the current government of Mauritania refuses to recognize it, rather the local authorities have been repressing RAG members since its foundation.

The RAG denounces the authoritarian excesses of the power of the president Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani and his Minister of the Interior Mohamd Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lemine who “ resort to iniquitous, provocative and disloyal or even cynical methods and practices in order to eliminate political adversaries”1 which includes death threats, repression, mass arbitrary incarceration and arrest of RAG supporters .

More recently, on the 12th of November 2022 the leader of the Ira-M, Biram Dah Abeid and his friends met Hamoud Ould Mane, representative of Reform and Global Action (Rag ) where they were approached by a police officer who stated “I have been sent by my superiors to tell you that you are strictly forbidden to hold meetings here in Akjoujt and I am responsible with my elements for enforcing this instruction”2 which later led to the reinforcement of the blockade of the activists by dozens of heavily armed agents.

Moreover, it was also reported to the UNPO that Mauritanian authorities threaten and harass the supporter of the IRA-M and RAG to debilitate and dissuade people to join the peaceful and democratic movement, creating an environment of fear which deprive Mauritanian citizens from freely enjoying their rights to freedom of association.

The political party, RAG, also faces a lot of several obstacles during its political activities. Beside not being officially and legally granted the registration to form a political party, the RAG faces relentlessness by the local authority, aiming to eliminate any political opposition in the next presidential election, including the RAG. This shows the partial and undemocratic system in Mauritania, nevertheless, the members of the IRA-M along with the RAG publicly declared their motivation to pursue their political activity.

 

(FR version below)

 

Le parti politique interdit : Résurgence pour une Action Global (RAG) appelle au gouvernement de la Mauritanie à respecter le principe de la démocratie, en particulier le multipartisme, et à cesser immédiatement l’interdiction, et le harcèlement quasi quotidien, des membres du parti RAG. 

Le RAG est le parti politique émanant du mouvement des droits civiques Mauritaniens, Initiative de Résurgence du Mouvement Abolitionniste, connue sous le nom d’IRA-Mauritanie dont l’objectif est d’éradiquer toutes les formes d’esclavages, de racismes et de corruptions en Mauritanie. Bien que ce parti politique existe et soit soutenu par un grand nombre de personnes, le Gouvernement actuel de la Mauritanie refuse de le reconnaître ; les autorités locales réprimant plutôt les membres du RAG depuis sa fondation. 

Le RAG dénonce les excès autoritaires, du pouvoir de Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani et son ministre de l’Intérieur, Mohamed Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lemine qui, selon les militants de RAG, ont recours à des méthodes et pratiques iniques, provocatrices et déloyales, pour éliminer les adversaires politiques : selon les militants de RAG, menaces de mort, harcèlement, répression, incarcérations arbitraires et massives, l’arrestation des militants et sympathisants du RAG sont certaines des practiques utilisées par le gouvernement au pouvoir. 

Plus récemment, le 12 novembre 2022, le leader de l’Ira-M, Biram Dah Abeid et ses partenaires ont rencontré Hamoud Ould Mane, représentant du parti Refondation et Action Globale (RAG). A cette occasion, ils ont été harcelés par un officier de police, qui a déclaré : « J’ai été envoyé par mes supérieurs pour vous dire qu’il vous est strictement interdit de tenir des réunions ici à Akjoujt, et je suis chargé avec mes moyens de faire respecter cette instruction ». Ce qui a conduit au renforcement du blocus contre les militants par la police politique ; des dizaines d’agents de police lourdement armés ont exécuté cet ordre. 

De plus, il a également été rapporté à l’UNPO par les acteurs sur le terrains que les Autorités Mauritaniennes menacent et harcèlent les partisans de l’IRA-M et du RAG pour les débaucher du mouvement afin qu’ils adhérent au parti au pouvoir dirigé par le général- président, Mohamed Cheikh Ghazouani. Cette campagne d’intimidation crée un environnement incertain qui prive les citoyens Mauritaniens de jouir librement de leurs droits à la liberté d’association. 

Le parti politique, le RAG, a également dénoncé de se voir confronté à de nombreux obstacles lors de ses activités politiques. En plus de ne pas avoir obtenu officiellement et légalement, un justificatif du ministère de l’Intérieur, le RAG fait face à de nombreuses formes de harcèlement de la part des autorités du pays, des pressions qui selon le RAG, visent à éliminer toute opposition politique lors de la prochaine élection présidentielle. Ces méthodes font craindre les acteurs sur le terrain que les autorités ne sont pas prêtes à la tenue d’élections transparentes. Les militants de IRA-M ainsi que le RAG ont publiquement déclaré leur motivation à poursuivre leur activité politique. 

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