Abderrahmane Ould Weddady, a Mauritanian blogger, has been charged by the public prosecutor at the regional court of Nouakchott West, following defamation and slander complaints by a writer, Aziza Mint Barnaoui. The complaint is in respect of a publication on Facebook by the blogger.

The Vice President of the Mauritanian Journalists Union, Aziz Ould Souvi, said in a tweet that the union has pressed the writer to accept an amicable settlement but in vain.

This is not Abderrahmane Weddady’s first run-in with the law. On March 22, 2019, he was arrested together with Cheikh Ould Jiddou by the Economic Crimes Unit and detained at the central prison in Mauritania’s capital Nouakchott, on grounds of ‘malicious accusation’. Their national ID cards and passports were also seized by the authorities.

In recent times the Mauritanian authorities have embarked on a vigorous fight against alarming publications online by journalists. Weddady’s recent troubles come less than a month after another blogger, Hamda Ould Oubeidallah, was sent to prison in Nouadhibou on October 26, on charges of “insult, slander and incitement via social networks.” The charges for which Oubeidallah was sent to the central prison relate to a series of live videos the blogger posted on his Facebook page, in which he severely criticised the government.

Earlier on October 11, 2021, the judicial police summoned Mokhtar Ould Babtah, the publisher of the website Al-Shorouk Media, and questioned him, following a complaint filed by the director of “Maaden Mauritania”, a private company.

After an interrogation of more than an hour, Babtah was released with an order to return for further questioning on October 13. On this day, a delegation of the Union of Journalists of Mauritania went to the police station to show solidarity with their colleague.

Back in August, in Néma, blogger and activist Mohamed Boumenih was arrested, without the police giving details on the reasons for this arrest. The arrest of the activist in the early afternoon of August 31, 2021 in Néma, capital of Hodh Charghi district, came after he published a post on his Facebook page in which he lamented about the non-existence of the state today, and expressed the desire for […] which requires the rapid intervention of the military to put an end to what he called a failing regime.

On July 12, 2021, a social media activist, Neny Ould Ahmed Ould Kerkoub, appeared before an investigating magistrate who placed him under a detention warrant, in the civil prison of Nouakchott. The public prosecutor’s office of the West Nouakchott region accused the activist of undermining national unity. The charge against Ould Kerkoub came a few days after he was arrested by the police and taken into custody, for having signed and disseminated on social media platforms, Whatsapp and Facebook, a statement calling for the secession of northern Mauritania.

The Media Foundation for West Africa is extremely concerned about the increasing cases of arrest, detention, interrogation and other acts of harassment of bloggers by the Mauritanian authorities. We urge public figures in Mauritania to be tolerant of criticism from journalists and activists. In this respect, we call on the authorities to release Weddady, given that his offense, if any, is amenable to civil proceedings that should not involve detention.

Meanwhile, there is evidence of overenthusiastic social media publications by bloggers and social media activists in Mauritania. We, therefore, urge bloggers and journalists to ensure that their posts do not violate the rights of individuals or cause public nuisance.

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By Ashnah Kalemera and Simone Toussi

The growth in usage of digital technologies in Africa is fuelling technology-enabled human trafficking activities in the region. But these very technologies can be leveraged to fight the vice that is sweeping across the continent.

With support from the Africa Digital Rights Fund (ADRF), the African Legal Think Tank on Women’s Rights (ALTOWR) has studied the role of the internet in fuelling human trafficking, including online recruitment and advertisement in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), The Gambia and Mauritania. Besides the results being enlightening, the project has produced a curriculum for skills and knowledge building on how the internet can be used to fuel or to combat human trafficking.

According to the annual Trafficking in Persons Report, many African countries experience diverse forms of human trafficking. In 2020, for every 10 victims of trafficking, five were adult women and two were girls. DR Congo, The Gambia and Mauritania are among the countries on the continent where the vice is rife.

The Global Slavery Index, which measures where modern slavery (forced labour, human trafficking and forced marriages) occurs and how governments are responding, ranked the three countries 12th, 58th and 6th respectively, out of 167 globally. With national internet penetration rates of 19.2% in DR Congo, 63% in Mauritania and 19% in The Gambia, human trafficking networks in these countries are increasingly relying on the internet and social media platforms to recruit victims.

In the DR Congo, there are over one million estimated victims, with most trafficking involving “forced labour in artisanal mining sites, agriculture, domestic servitude, or armed groups recruiting children in combat and support roles, as well as sex trafficking.”

Indeed, ALTOWR’s study found that population displacement due to the conflict in the DR Congo had created a favourable environment for the exploitation of vulnerable communities. The study details cases of sexual slavery and forced marriages in the country’s capital Kinshasa, as well as in neighbouring Rwanda; illegal migration to South Africa via Burundi and Tanzania; and abductions, resulting in sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/ AIDS, unwanted pregnancies, and hefty ransom payments. In all case studies, the perpetrators used social media platforms including Facebook and WhatsApp to lure victims.

Read more: Le Rôle de l’internet dans la Croissance de la Traite des Etres Humains en République Démocratique du Congo

In The Gambia, an estimated 11,000 individuals are victims of modern slavery, out of a total population of just under two million. Gambian women, girls and to some extent boys are subjected to sex trafficking and forced labour fuelled by the country’s thriving tourism sector.

Gambia’s law against human trafficking was passed in 2007 and the country established the National Agency Against Trafficking in Persons, whose operations commenced in 2013 but are restricted by limited resources. As such, According to the ALTOWR study, efforts to prosecute perpetrators of human trafficking are “minimal.” Among the cases investigated, particularly for Gambians trafficked to the Middle East, travel logistics are arranged online.

Read more: The Role of the Internet in Fueling the Growth of Human Trafficking in The Gambia 

Meanwhile, despite reforms against trafficking and smuggling of persons in Mauritania, modern slavery “is entrenched in society with slave status being inherited and deeply rooted in social castes and wider social system” in the country where there are an estimated 90,000 victims, out of a population of four million. Located between North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, with a long and porous border, Mauritania is a transit route for smugglers and traffickers between Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

Read more: Le Rôle de l’internet dans la Croissance de la Traite des Etres Humains en Mauritanie

In Africa, human traffickers use the Internet to identify, recruit, coerce and control victims as well as to advertise the services or products resulting from their exploitation. They also use it to launder the illicit revenue earned from their activities. Migrant smugglers use the Internet for similar purposes. Online African Organized Crime from Surface to Darkweb, 2020

The studies recommend that government, civil society and other stakeholders in the three countries leverage online platforms for prevention and protection campaigns as well as outreach, including on risks, avenues for reporting and access to support services (psychosocial, mental, physical and legal including referrals). On prosecution, recommendations include the need for skills and knowledge building for enforcement authorities to understand human trafficking via the internet. The studies also recommend leveraging technology for witness protection during criminal proceedings and the enactment of specific legislation on online sex crimes and cyber trafficking.

The findings and recommendations of the studies fed into the development of country-specific curriculums that informed three in-country trainings targeted at survivors and networks working to combat human trafficking. The aim was to equip them with tools to influence prevention and protection strategies. The trainings reached a total of 63 beneficiaries including youth groups, women’s rights organisations, and civil society organisations, and were preceded by a Trainings of Trainers (ToT) in each country.

The discussions at the trainings fed into two regional roundtables [French and English] which explored ways to improve and implement the existing legal frameworks, strengthen border controls, and multi-stakeholder efforts to eradicate socio-cultural constraints and practices that undermine victims’ rights. Representatives in the roundtables were drawn from the African Union, the North-South Center Council of Europe, the Counter Trafficking Unit of the International Organization for Migration, alongside several think-tanks, networks, and civil society organisations.

The engagements resulted in the establishment of country task forces to support the development of collaborative action plans that leverage the internet to push back against human trafficking. The study results will continue to inform the work by ALTOWR and CIPESA in understanding how digital technologies can best be leveraged to combat human trafficking in Africa.

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Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns a Mauritanian reporter’s arrest for 48 hours over nothing more than a Facebook post questioning government spending. The authorities must safeguard press freedom in Mauritania, RSF said.

Abdellahi Mohamed Ould Atigha, the editor of the independent newspaper Al Hoora, was suddenly arrested – without any warning or prior summons – on 24 April by police who went to his home in Boutilimit, a town 165 km southeast of the capital Nouakchott.

It was only on arriving at the town’s police station that he was told he had been arrested because of a complaint by social affairs minister Naha Mint Haroun Cheikh Sidiya over a Facebook post in which he questioned what had happened to money earmarked for disadvantaged sectors of the population.

Ould Atigha was released 48 hours later after the minister’s father withdrew the complaint. When reached by RSF, the journalist deplored the “lack of transparency on the part of the authorities” and said there was “no justification” for his arrest.

“Arresting a journalist for an ordinary Facebook post that just asked questions is totally disproportionate,” RSF said. “This speaks both to a dangerous level of scrutiny of social media by the authorities, and to a manifest desire to suppress dissent. We urge the government to safeguard the accessibility and transparency of information in Mauritania and to desist from arbitrary arrests of journalists, who must be able to work with complete freedom.”

This is not the first time that journalists have been arrested in Mauritania for questioning what happens to government money. Two bloggers, Abderrahmane Weddady and Cheikh Ould Jiddou, spent more than two months in prison in 2019 for reporting on comments being made by bloggers and media outlets in the Middle East about the freezing of a two-billion dollar account in the United Emirates that was allegedly opened by persons close to Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz.

Mauritania has fallen 46 places in RSF’s World Press Freedom Index since 2016 and is now ranked 94th out of 180 countries.

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The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) urges the authorities in Mauritania to release Ahmed Mohamed Salem Kerkoub from detention and end the harassment of the freelance journalist and two other bloggers.

In what constitutes a new attempt at muzzling freedom of expression on the internet and intimidation of citizens for exercising their fundamental rights, the administrative and regional authorities of Nouadhibou, the second major city in Mauritania, 525 km away from the capital Nouakchott, detained Kerkoub on January 7, 2021, upon a complaint by the deputy mayor of Nouadhibou, Ghassem Ould Bellali, over an article the journalist published.

The authorities have also placed under judicial supervision Mohamed Haibeitna Delchoul and Bilal Abdarrahmane, who assisted the journalist with information collection and fact-checking. The two are required to appear every day at the Nouadhibou court.

On January 5, 2021, Kerkoub, who writes for the news website www.mauritannet.blogspot.com, published an article on Facebook in which he made certain allegations about the management of funds meant to help vulnerable people to cope with the effects of COVID-19.

The journalist allegedly claimed that the administrative (governor and prefect) and municipal (mayor) authorities did not respect the guidelines for the allocation of the amount of 2280 MRU (57 USD) each to vulnerable households. Kerkoub was brought to the civil prison of Nouadhibou and prosecuted for defamation, slander and insult, following a complaint by the deputy mayor.

This is the second time in six months that this journalist, who’s also a social media activist, has been jailed for his publications.

On June 8, 2020, Kerkoub was arrested on the orders of the investigating judge of the Dakhlet Nouadhibou regional court. He was subsequently held in prison for 30 days. The judge accused the activist of not having complied with the conditions of a judicial review in January 2020 following a complaint filed against him by the mayor of the economic capital of Mauritania, Honorable El Ghassem Ould Bellali.

However, following mediation by the Syndicat des Journalistes Mauritaniens (SJM) and some local dignitaries, Ghassem Ould Bellali, the mayor of Nouadhibou withdrew his complaint. The journalist was released on bail on July 8, 2020, with judicial review.

Criticisms by journalists, bloggers and citizens on social media in Mauritania are viewed with concern by the authorities who attempt to repress them with detentions and excessive fines by the courts.

On June 24, 2020, the National Assembly passed a new law on posting on social media. The law provides for criminal penalties of three months to five years, with fines of 50,000 MRU (1,260 USD) to 200,000 MRU (5040 USD) for any publication deemed false.

The MFWA calls for the release of Salem Kerkoub and the lifting of the judicial control imposed on Mohamed Haibeitna Delchoul and Bilal Abdarrahmane.

We call on public authorities to be tolerant of criticism about the management of public affairs, and to use the rights of rejoinder to inform public opinion on the issues about which they are questioned. Resorting to legal proceedings against journalists and citizens over the management of public affairs has the potential to violate freedom of expression, which is enshrined in the constitution and indispensable under any democratic regime. This practice undermines public discourse and participatory governance and strengthens bad governance and corruption.

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The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) welcomes the release of blogger Mohamed Ali Ould Abdel Aziz and journalists Abdou Ould Tajeddine and Cheikh Ould Mami from detention and calls on the Mauritanian authorities to drop all charges against them.

The three were arrested between January 22 and 26, 2020 for producing and broadcasting a video criticising President Mohamed Cheikh El Ghazouani and his government.

Blogger Mohamed Ali Abdel Aziz was arrested by the police after he published the video on social media. He was detained at the state service security headquarters, in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania. Following his arrest, the Ministry of Security in Mauritania issued a statement, accusing the blogger of cyber offences.

“[Mohamed Ali Adbedl Aiz] is indicted for using a computer programme to produce and disseminate recordings containing insults and appeals to racism and hatred in clear contradiction of our social values, the teachings of our holy religion and the laws in force in the country,” read the statement.

On January 22, the security forces traced and arrested Abdou Ould Tajeddine, a cameraman and video producer working for the privately-owned Sahel TV. On January 26, 2020, a freelance journalist, Cheikh Ould Mami, was also arrested in connection with the production and publication of the critical video.

Aziz, Tajeddine and Mami were kept in detention until their release on January 27, 2020. A government statement did not indicate the conditions of their release or the status of their cases.

The MFWA welcomes the release of Abdel Azziz, Tajeddine and Mami and condemns their arrest. We find the arrest of the journalists an attempt to intimidate and discourage criticism of the regime. We urge the Mauritanian authorities to drop all charges against the three men and to cease all acts of harassment against them.

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The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) welcomes the positive developments in Mauritania over the past week which have seen the restoration of the internet and liberation of journalists and political activists arrested after the country’s presidential elections held on June 22, 2019.

On July 15, 2019, Ahmed Ould Wedia, a journalist with the private television station Al-Mourabitoune, was released after 12 days in detention. The journalist, who is also the Vice President of the anti-slavery organisation SOS Esclaves, was arrested by security forces in his home on July 3, as part of a crackdown on dissent following protests against the election results.

Known for his critical remarks about the government of President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Ould Wedia has had many brushes with the authorities in the past. In 2017 for instance, his highly popular television show was suspended for a month by the media regulator, Haute autorité de la presse et de l’audiovisuel (Hapa), which accused him of “promoting separatism” following his repeated denunciation of slavery in the country.

The MFWA also hails the release from detention of Camara Seydi Moussa, the director of publication of La Nouvelle Expression newspaper, and Samba Thiam, a leading opposition politician. The two who were arrested in separate incidents on June 24, were liberated on July 3.

Plain-clothed police officers raided Camara’s home and carried away a computer and all the mobile phones in the house. The journalist, a strident critic of the government, was taken away and detained in an undisclosed location.

In another progressive move, the government on July 3, 2019 restored internet connection after it was shut down a day after the June 22 presidential elections to stifle dissent over the election results.

In Mauritania, where the print media have been grounded for more than a year, online news websites and social media are an invaluable source of information. The restoration of the internet is therefore a major boost, especially in the crucial period of Mauritania’s first ever handover of power from one democratically elected leader to another.

While hailing the restoration of the internet and the release of the journalists and the political activist, the MFWA urges the authorities in Mauritania to release other dissidents and anti-slavery campaigners including Mohamed Ould M’kheitir, who is languishing in prison for blasphemy despite the Court of Appeal decision ordering his release.

We also urge the incoming President to put freedom of expression and safety of journalists on the front burner of his development agenda.

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The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) calls on authorities in Mauritania to immediately release Ahmedou Ould Wediaa, a journalist of the private television channel El Mourabitoune, who has been arbitrarily detained by the police in Nouakchott, the capital city of Mauritania.

Ahmedou, a well-known critic of the outgoing president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, was on July 3, 2019, arrested in his home and detained by the police. The police have since not stated the reason behind his arrest or where he has been detained, leaving the family and friends of the journalist in extreme despair.

The arrest of Ahmedou is the second of a series of arrests after the June 22 presidential election. It comes barely two weeks after Camara Seydi Moussa, the chief editor of La Nouvelle Expression newspaper, was arrested and detained for eight days.

Moussa was arrested in his home after police accused him of discussing on the phone the results of the recent controversial presidential election. The police also seized all Moussa’s mobile phones and laptops. Many believe the reason given by the police for Moussa’s arrest indicates that authorities listen in on the conversations of critical journalists, politicians and dissident voices.

Ahmedou Ould Wediaa’s arrest has triggered an outcry and condemnation by the public and has further prompted a swift protest by the media fraternity in Mauritania in front of the Ministry of Communication demanding for his immediate release.

The recent series of arrests, including the detention of two web activists, Abderrahmane Weddady and Sheik Ould Jiddou, among others, are clear indications that the government in Mauritania has intensified its attack on freedom of expression in the country.

The MFWA urges authorities in Mauritania to release Ahmedou Ould Wediaa and immediately cease the on-going arbitrary arrests of journalists and bloggers in the country. We call on the authorities to promote freedom of expression as enshrined in the country’s constitution and several other regional and international instruments the country has ratified.

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The authorities in Mauritania have disrupted social media amidst a police assault on opposition protesters following disputed presidential elections in that country.

Mobile telephone connections were blocked around mid-day on June 23, 2019, making it impossible for the populace to make calls or access social media applications on their handsets. As a result, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Viber, YouTube, among other applications, could not be accessed. The disruption followed rising tension in the country after Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, ruling party candidate, declared himself winner of the previous day’s polls.

Neither the government nor the telecom companies has commented on the disruption which is believed to be aimed at preventing opposition mobilisation to contest the election results.

This is the third time in one month that the authorities in Mauritania have violated freedom of expression rights online. The internet was shut from May 27 to 31, 2019, during nation-wide high school entrance tests and high school diploma examinations. The measure, which the government argued was to check examination malpractices, was repeated on June 10-13, 2019, during the Baccalaureat examinations.

The MFWA finds the disruption of communication networks as an act of blatant censorship which violates the public’s right to receive information and express their opinion.

We are equally concerned about the arbitrary arrests and detentions of members and supporters of the opposition by the police, who also stormed the offices of Biram dah Abeid and Kane Hamidou Baba, two of the opposition candidates, and destroyed equipment including computers.

According to media reports, the two other losing candidates, Mohamed Ould Maouloud and Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar, have deplored the action of the police.

“We condemn the attacks on the offices of Kane Hamidou Baba and Biram dah Abeid. We also denounce the fact that there were massive arbitrary and unjustified arrests,” the two were quoted by Radio France Internationale (RFI) as saying.

The MFWA equally condemns the violations that have followed the otherwise peaceful voting in Mauritania. We urge the authorities to release opposition members and supporters illegally arrested by the police. We also call on the government to ensure that there are no further violations, especially during the protest marches planned by the opposition on June 27, 2019.

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The government of Mauritania has blocked Internet access throughout the country in what the authorities say is a measure to prevent malpractices during final year school examinations.

From June 10 to 13, 2019, the internet and access to social media platforms were blocked from 08:00 to 18:00 hours, the period for the Baccalaureat examinations.

It is the second time in less than a month that the government has disrupted the internet during national school examinations. The first wave of shutdowns occurred during nationwide examinations for entry into high school which were held from May 27 to 28, 2019, as well as the BEPC, equivalent to high school diploma examinations, held from May 29 to 31, 2019.

Similar measures were taken during the 2018 editions of the various examinations. Although the measure is very unpopular and roundly condemned by internet and social network users as inappropriate and damaging to the economy, the authorities insist that the measures were necessary to prevent malpractices.

“We attach great importance to this national diploma that opens the way to higher education for a bachelor’s degree. This is why we are reinforcing the measures of monitoring of the tests,” said Eslamou Ould Sidi El Mokhtar, Minister of National Education.

Internet shutdowns hamper daily socio-economic activities of the population and deny them their rights to freedom of expression online. The MFWA is therefore deeply concerned about the abuse of people’s right to receive and share information through internet disruptions.

We urge the authorities to find more practical and innovative means of checking examination fraud rather than resorting to internet disruptions which punish innocent citizens. If this violation is anything to go by, then there is a high risk of internet shutdown during Mauritania’s presidential elections in late June 2019. We therefore urge the government of Mauritania to commit itself to keeping the internet on during the June 22, 2019 polls.

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