New York
September 2, 2003
Dear President Taya:
I am writing to express the concern of Human Rights Watch over the recent politically motivated arrests of religious leaders, opposition politicians and social activists, the incommunicado detention without charge of military officers alleged to be involved in a coup attempt, and the imposition in past months of restrictions on freedom of expression and association.
According to reliable information collected by Human Rights Watch, since late April, the police have arrested dozens of people, including members of opposition political parties, as well as magistrates, civil society activists, imams and religious scholars, who were alleged to be members of an Islamist movement. For several months, government statements and reports in the government-controlled media have asserted, without putting forward any credible evidence, the presence of terrorist movements in Mauritania. The arrests have been justified in terms of the need to suppress terrorism, but appear rather to be designed to silence those who are critical of the government. Since the beginning of the year, there have been demonstrations in Mauritania about the war in Iraq and the unconditional support of the Mauritanian government for the United States government.
On May 29, nine members of the political party Nouhoud, who were arrested between April 29 and May 3, were convicted of forming an unlicensed association and reconstituting a previously dissolved political party [constitution d'association non-autorisée et reconstitution d'un parti politique après sa dissolution], following an unfair trial in which the president of the court refused to hear their chosen legal representatives. The secretary-general and his assistant were given suspended sentences of 6 months imprisonment, and the remaining accused 3 months, and were then released. On June 3, thirty-four civilians, mainly imams, arrested on different dates during May were charged by the Public Prosecutor and jailed by the investigating magistrate [juge d'instruction] in a juvenile prison in Nouakchott. The investigation of the case has been delayed since then, in violation of the code of criminal procedure. Their charges include conspiracy against the country's constitution and incitement to undermine the internal and external security of the country as well as forming unlicensed associations [complot contre le régime constitutionnel, incitation à l'atteinte à l'ordre public intérieur et extérieur et constitution d'association non autorisée]. On August 21, seven civilians, mainly students, were imprisoned under the same charges. One of the students is a woman who suffered a miscarriage while in preventive detention. Although all of those detained were released on August 25, no evidence submitted to court to date appears to provide grounds for the prosecution and trial of any of the civilians for any recognizable criminal offence.
We welcome the release from prison on August 24 of Chbih Ould Cheikh Melainine, who was convicted in 2001, following an unfair trial, on charges of involvement in an alleged coup plot. But two members of his opposition party, the Popular Front (Front Populaire) - Mokhtar Ould Haibetna and Bouba Ould Hassan - who were convicted at the same time, are still serving ten-year prison terms. It appears that there was little if any substantive evidence to back the charges against them. Human Rights Watch calls for their unconditional release.
Following the alleged attempted coup in Nouakchott on June 8, around a hundred military officers were arrested on June 9 and 10 and detained without charge under state security laws. They were held with no access to family or to lawyers. About ninety of those detained were released on August 6, but an uncertain number are still being held incommunicado at unknown locations, without access to legal representation. Their detention without charge contravenes international due process standards, as well as national law providing for a maximum detention period of thirty days without charge for violation of the security of the state.
Criminal charges may be appropriate, according to the evidence, but the officers concerned should be charged and tried promptly, given the right to legal representation and the facilities to prepare a defense, to know the evidence against them, and to appeal a conviction to a higher court. Detention without charge cannot be justified, and laws providing for such detention should be repealed.
All those persons held in custody must be protected from torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment in accordance with Article 13 (4) of the Mauritanian constitution and international human rights law. The lack of access to the military officers that are in detention raises serious concerns about their treatment, given past reports of inhuman conditions of detention in Mauritania.
Finally, HRW condemns the increased restrictions on freedoms of expression, opinion and association imposed on nongovernmental organizations, including human rights groups, and the media over the last few months. Independent organizations for the protection of human rights cannot work effectively as they have been denied registration by the government. At the beginning of August, a delegation of lawyers was refused discussion with the general secretary of the Ministry of Justice as long as Fatimata Mbaye, acting president of the Association Mauritanienne des Droits de l'Homme, was present. Several charitable organizations such as the Office de bienfaisance des Emirats, the Institut des études de sciences religieuses et de langues arabes and the Office international islamique de secours (OIS) have also been closed down without any reasonable grounds. In addition, independent newspapers are frequently prevented from publishing articles critical of government policies, under a system which gives the ministry of the interior the power to censor print media in advance of publication.
Human Rights Watch calls on the Mauritanian government to respect the rights to freedom of expression and association guaranteed by the Mauritanian constitution of 1991 and by international and regional instruments ratified by Mauritania. The laws governing censorship of the media should be repealed and legitimate human rights and other charitable organizations allowed to function freely.
Presidential elections are scheduled in Mauritania for November 7. Should the current climate of harassment of opposition members and the restrictions on freedom of expression persist, we do not believe that they can be free and fair.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Takirambudde
Executive Director
Africa Division
|
