Aissa Fall, Mauritania

I am honoured to be amongst such distinguished guests and thank Front Line for this opportunity. My name is Aïssa Fall and I am a founder member of S.O.S. Slaves of Mauritania, responsible for education and health. S.O.S. Slaves was founded in 1995 to help slaves who are in conflict with their masters.

The Islamic republic of Mauritania became an independent state in 1960. It has a population of 3,480,000. There are four official linguistic groups (arab-berber and negro-African) in the country, which are in turn divided into tribes and clans. From a structural point of view within society, practices of slavery still exist, as well as other kinds of discrimination and exclusion such as racial discrimination, the lower status of women and the existence of a caste system.

The country witnessed recurring racial tension in 1966, 1987 and more intensely in 1989-1990 when some of the negro-African community was deported to Senegal and Mali (125,000) and more than 500 illegal executions were carried out against this group. The perpetrators of these crimes, akin to acts of genocide, have never been pursued in the courts.

For 45 years of independence the country has lived under a civil regime with only one established political party and a single trade union. After which the country then lived for 18 years under military governments, with the exception of the period between 1978- 1991. In 1991 the military regime was converted to a civil regime with a disguised dictator. During this whole period, the country was subject to serious human rights violations: torture, imprisonment without trial, opponents to the regime were left in the desert, elections were fixed, newspapers were censored and the State refused to create independent radio and television, until the Coup d’Etat on 3 August 2005 when the organisers attempted to reinstate justice and democracy.

Under these despicable conditions I made a personal commitment to fight for human rights: civil, political, trade union liberties, as well as the abolition of slavery – a fate to which thousands of people are still subject. This motivated me to take part in a variety of activities: protests, sit-ins, gatherings in front of public places, activities – all of which are considered serious acts of defiance by the authorities and are often met with brutal attacks or questioning by the police.

Since 1990, I have been actively participating protests in Nouakchott: Protests organised by the families of negro-Mauritanians who were victims of racist violence by the administrative and military authorities, as well as protests against the imprisonment of opposition leaders in Tichitt, Ouadane, Tamchekette and Bassiknou. At the time of these protests, women were attacked and abused by the police who sprayed us with tear gas, forced us into their cars and detained us. Demonstrations calling for the liberation of leaders of human rights organisations who were arbitrarily imprisoned following the screening of a documentary on the existence of slavery in Mauritania in a FR 3 French television (1998). Ceremonies commemorating national and international days in defence of human rights. Protests calling for the release of political prisoners, opposition politicians, military and Islamic leaders who have been imprisoned under falsified and arbitrary charges. For instance, this year there has been a campaign for the liberation of two women defenders and a journalist who were imprisoned for revealing slavery practices.

All the above activities have meant that my children, my family and I have faced different kinds of hardship and barriers in my professional life. In spite of the numerous incidents of harassment, intimidation, repression and socio-economic restrictions that face the defenders of human rights, I continue to fight for the protection and the promotion of human rights in my country.

I cannot finish without asking the representatives of the United Nations and Front Line to help us to make the abolition of slavery a reality by developing and implementing the body of law which already exists.