Mauritania – The Commissioner for Human Rights and Humanitarian Action in Mauritania, Sheikh Al-Trad Weld Abdelmalek, denied on Thursday the report presented by Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Philip Alston following his visit to Mauritania from 02 to 11 May 2016. Philip visited Mauritania last May and prepared a report to monitor the situation of public rights and freedoms and various human rights cases in Mauritania. He accused the Mauritanian authorities of torture, police brutality, arbitrary arrests, mass layoffs of hundreds of workers and growing concern about the weak independence of the judiciary. The Human Rights Commissioner, in a speech at the 35th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, denied the report, accusing the UN Rapporteur of falsifying the allegations contained in the report regarding the exclusion of certain segments of the countrys high posts and positions and the discrimination in obtaining civil and property documents. He cited statistics from international bodies on poverty and growth indicators in Mauritania. The Commissioner mentioned the tangible results of Mauritanias policy in promoting civil, political, economic and social rights and combating the effects of slavery. He also praised the special rapporteurs, including the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Ermila Bhawla, who recently visited Mauritania. The UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Philip Alston has issued a warning to the Mauritanian government of instability if its wealth is not distributed equitably among all segments of society, while at the same time he talked about the significant achievements in recent years. In a press conference held in the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott in May 2016, the UN rapporteur said Mauritanias stability in a volatile region could be undermined if the benefits of growth were not distributed more equitably.
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