<p> The human rights situation in Mauritania in 1991 was
dominated by revelations that five to six hundred black
political prisoners were executed or tortured to death by
government forces between November 1990 and March 1991. The
victims were among one to three thousand blacks who had been
arrested during that period. In addition, security forces
committed serious abuses against the black ethnic groups (The
four black ethnic groups are the Halpulaar, Soninké, Wolof and
Bambara. Although exact population figures are not known because
the results of the most recent census, in 1988, were never
published, these four groups are believed to make up about
thirty percent of the population. Another thirty to forty
percent are Haratines, also known as black Moors, the former
black slaves of the politically dominant Arab-Berber Beydanes
who continue to identify politically and culturally with their
former masters. The remainder of the population is Beydane.)
along the Senegal River Valley, including murder, torture, rape,
arbitrary arrest, and confiscation and destruction of property.
In April, the Mauritanian government announced its intention to
move toward democracy, but its commitment must be viewed in
light of its continuing campaign to repress and brutalize
Mauritania's black ethnic groups, notably the Halpulaars, who
are considered most actively opposed to the government.
</p>
<p> The wave of arrests of black Mauritanians in late 1990 and
early 1991 followed an alleged coup attempt by members of the
black community backed, according to the authorities, by
Senegal. (Senegal denied participation in the coup attempt, and
it is impossible to take the Mauritanian government's claim of
a coup attempt seriously. First, the charges were announced only
in December, even though the arrests began in mid-October.
Second, the likelihood that black soldiers would attempt a coup
must be considered small in light of the dramatic decrease in
the number of black army officers and soldiers following an
alleged coup attempt by black army officers in October 1987 as
well as the expulsion of many black members of the army, the
police force, the National Guard, various security services and
the customs service in 1989 and 1990. Finally, and perhaps most
important, the arrests took place in the midst of a municipal
electoral campaign, at a time when the authorities were clearly
nervous that one of the candidates for mayor of Nouakchott, the
capital, was galvanizing the black and Haratine populations
against the ruling Beydanes.) Estimates of the number of blacks
arrested range from one to three thousand, almost all Halpulaars
from the military and civil service. Because the number of
arrests exceeded the government's capacity to hold detainees in
traditional detention centers, military bases and police
stations in various parts of the country were turned into
prisons. The detainees were held incommunicado, and most were
savagely tortured, apparently in an effort to extract
confessions and information about others. The torture included
beatings, burns, electric shocks applied to the genitals,
stripping prisoners naked and pouring cold water over them,
burying prisoners in sand to their necks, and subjecting
prisoners to "jaguar," a common method of torture in Mauritania
involving tying a victim's hands and feet, suspending him upside
down from a bar, and beating him, particularly on the soles of
the feet.
</p>
<p> In late March, the government declared an amnesty and freed
hundreds of detainees. The released prisoners revealed the fate
of those who had been murdered and tortured. Many who survived
imprisonment are now reportedly crippled, paralyzed or maimed
from the effects of torture, and some have died since their
release. The government appointed a commission of inquiry in
the spring, but it was composed entirely of military officers--even the pro-government Mauritanian League for Human Rights
was not permitted to participate--and the commission's
findings have not been made public. The possibility that a
genuine effort will be made to expose the recent abuses--and
thus deter their recurrence--appears dim.
</p>
<p> In a rare show of public opposition, a series of open letters
and tracts were issued in April criticizing the government's
role in the arrests and killings. One petition signed by over
seventy-five women--mothers, wives, sisters and nieces of some
of those arrested and presumed dead--called on President
Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya to account for those killed. An open
letter to President Taya signed by fifty prominent Mauritanians--including lawyers, doctors, professors and former ministers--denounced "the magnitude of the repression which was brought
down upon the blacks, civilians and military, in the last months
of 1990." The Mauritanian Workers Union published a statement
calling for an independent investigation and a national
conference.
</p>
<p> Although the number of deportations of blacks has dropped
considerably since the second half of 1990, black villagers and
herders continue to flee Mauritania for refuge in Senegal or
Mali. The military and militia stationed in the Senegal River
Valley as a virtual occupation force continue to be responsible
for a pattern of indiscriminate killing, torture, rape and
beating. The militia are composed predominantly of Haratine (or
black Moors), former black slaves who continue to identify
politically and culturally with their past masters. They act
with impunity, arresting arbitrarily and sometimes killing
villagers, and taking their food, their livestock, their
belongings and even their wives and daughters. In an open letter
to the president in September, nine villagers in the Brackna
region detailed the killing of a thirty-four-year old man from
the village of Dar-el-Barka by a member of the National Guard
and spoke of other officially sanctioned atrocities.
</p>
<p> Meanwhile, blacks in the cities continue to suffer government
repression. Beginning in late 1990 and continuing throughout
1991, hundreds of black professionals were dismissed from their
jobs, former prisoners were kept under close surveillance, and
a sense of fear and insecurity was pervasive in the black
community. Because of the government's policy of "Arabization,"
blacks continue to face discrimination in education, employment,
access to loans and credits, the administration of justice (in
both regular and religious courts) and language, with Arabic
replacing French as the official language.
</p>
<p> Ironically, news of the deaths in detention came at a time
when the Mauritanian government had announced a series of
reforms. On April 16, President Taya stated that an Economic
and Social Council would be appointed, a referendum on a new
constitution would be held, and parliamentary elections would
be scheduled. The constitutional referendum took place on July
12. According to the government, the text was approved by 97.24
percent of the population. However, black opposition activists,
including those associated with the African Liberation Forces
of Mauritania, had called for a boycott of the referendum, and
they assert that the referendum was passed by a substantially
smaller margin.
</p>
<p> In July, new laws were promulgated on political parties and
the press, although these institutions remain subject to severe
restrictions. The law on political parties, for example, states
that no party can engage in propaganda "in contradiction with
the principles of true Islam." By December, at least eleven
political parties had registered, but virtually all have close
links to the ruling authorities. One, the Social Democratic
Republican Party (SDRP), was formed at the end of August by
President Taya. Another, the Assembly for Democracy and National
Unity, was formed in August by Ahmed Ould Sidi Baba, the mayor
