The Guardian newspaper published an article entitled "The real slavery in Mauritania, which we cannot talk about" and published on June 8th the tragedy of slaves in Mauritania.
The newspaper said that the Mauritanian human rights groups reveal that 20 percent of Mauritanians live as slaves, despite the criminalization of slavery in 1981, where tens of thousands of Mauritanians are still enslaved in their country.
It added that the Mauritanians belonging to the dark-skinned Haratin minority of African origins are treated as salves, while women are sexually enslaved and forced to work as domestic servants, forcing one out of two of "Haratins" to work on farms or houses without any possibility of freedom, education or wages.
“The Guardian” said that human rights and anti-slavery organizations in Mauritania accuse the government of denying the existence of slavery and not doing enough to eradicate this phenomenon, noting that anti-slavery activists suffer from persecution and repression.
The newspaper dealt with the historical dimensions of the " slavery phenomenon" in Mauritania and revealed that Mauritanians of Arab and Berber origins have enslaved the "Haratins’ minority" since the Arab conquest, where slavery has become hereditary since then.
The newspaper also highlighted the political dimensions of this phenomenon, where Mauritanians of Arab and Berber origins monopolize important positions in the state and society, while the members of the minority "Haratin" are deprived from learning and access to high positions in the state as they are instead given the actions rejected by Arabs and Berbers.
It also referred to the political conflict in Mauritania, where the political activist and former presidential candidate in Mauritania, “Bayrem Ould Abid”, a member of the Haratins minority, who was jailed for years before taking the second place in the 2014 national elections, pledged to remove President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who came to power in the 2008 coup, and he dissolved the Senate.
“The Guardian" newspaper published the testimonies of some of the "slaves" who were freed after years of slavery and were guaranteed an anti-slavery better future in Mauritania by human rights organizations.
#slavery #Mauritania
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