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Slavery in Mauritania denounced as abolition activist is awarded UN Human Rights Prize

Biram Dah Abeid has been denouncing for years the permanence of slavery in the West African country · Up to 15% of the population could be living enslaved · Racial dimension still important for masters-slaves division · Local NGOs blame authorities, police, courts

The United Nations are today awarding Biram Dah Abeid its Human Rights Prize, an event that highlights the permanence of the institution of slavery in Mauritania. Abeid, an activist and himself the son of freed slaves, has earned this UN distinction -which today marks the International Human Rights Day- thanks to a years-long struggle against slavery, including a prison sentence -he was released last year. Slavery in Mauritania is be linked to a history of racial discrimination that continues to exist even though it has been legally abolished.

There are no concrete figures on the number of slaves in Mauritania, the 29th largest world country (1,030,000 square kilometers) but a very deserted one (3.3 to 3.8 million inhabitants). According to the Global Slavery Index, at least 140,000 Mauritanians currently live enslaved. But Mauritanian NGO put the figure at 500,000, which means that about 15% of the population could be enslaved.

Slavery in Mauritania has a racial dimension. There are two major population groups in Mauritania: the Hassaniya-speaking Moors (the term has no derogatory sense), and the Black Africans, mainly hailing from three ethnic groups: Soninké, Fulani and Wolof. Slavery expert Kevin Bales writes that Moors are divided into three social classes that inherit differences based on skin color. On the one hand, light-skinned White Moors hold the power in the country. On the other, dark-skinned Black Moors are divided into two classes: slaves -owned by White Moors- and freed people, who remain below the White Moors in the social scale.

Slave women are especially vulnerable

According to the Global Slavery Index, indoctrination plays a key role in ensuring the survival of slavery: "Without access to education or alternative means of subsistence, many [Mauritanians] believe that it is God's wish for them to be slaves" says the country report, which also holds that slave women suffer a particular discrimination: "the legal and policy framework to protect women's rights in Mauritania is extremely deficient, with many discriminatory laws". Mauritanian women are exposed to genital mutilation, forced marriage and are even blamed for adultery if they are raped. These situations are aggravated in the case of enslaved women.

Several NGOs in Mauritania have been struggling for years to achieve the effective abolition of slavery. Biram Dah Abeid's IRA Mauritanie is one of them. These NGOs are documenting slavery cases and the relation that the Mauritanian authorities have with them. The Association for Threatened Peoples says that the police, the courts and the authorities are "actively hindering the effective abolition" of slavery. The company quotes a recent example of a girl aged 18, Noura, who has denounced her masters: "Far from being helped by the authorities, she has suffered threats and intimidation by the police, who tried to force her to withdraw the complaint. Noura's, unfortunately, is not an isolated case".

(Image: former slaves / picture by Magharebia.)