UN Special Rapporteur on Slavery Contemporary Forms Praises Mauritania’s Efforts
On 18 September, in Geneva, Mr. Ahmed Salem Ould Bouhebeini, the President of the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), expressed his satisfaction with the speech of Mr. Tomoya Obokata, the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery.
Mr. Obokata spoke before the 54th session of the UN Human Rights Council, where he recently praised Mauritania’s efforts in the fight against slavery, believing that these efforts must serve as a
model in the region.
Ould Bouhebeini indicated that it should be emphasized that those efforts, appreciated by the United Nations, do not come out of the blue, they are rather the result of tireless efforts made by
the Mauritanian government supported by its regional administrative, judicial, and security authorities.
He indicated that the Mauritanian government had made significant successive efforts in the areas of awareness-raising, consultation with civil society, the creation of organizations and institutions linked to the fight against the aftermaths of slavery and the adoption of dissuasive laws, in addition to creating competent courts and making effective judicial decisions.
The CNDH President expressed his satisfaction with the UN Rapporteur’s speech in which he appreciated the progress made by Mauritania in the fight against slavery, a model to follow in the region.
”However, if we note this satisfaction, objectivity calls on us to recognize that there are still long steps to take with the same determination and the same seriousness, particularly in the fight against marginalization and poverty
in rural areas, villages, and fragile neighborhoods, but also against waste.
Slavery, this phenomenon has led to ignorance, lack of access to health services, water and electricity, isolation,” as he put it.
He stressed the need to “put in place a processing mechanism that takes into account economic and social levels to achieve, among other things, equality before justice, in employment opportunities, and in access
to public employment, adding ”while congratulating the authorities for the conviction and will showed in the face of all these problems, let us also congratulate the efforts made in all directions”.
These efforts concern the protection of rights, the fight against violations of these rights, advocacy with human rights organizations at the local level, and the mobilization of UN partners and others to provide a real picture of the situationof human rights and seek to find support for the efforts deployed in Mauritania.
Ould Bouhoubeini stressed that, as part of the above-mentioned efforts, the CNDH has succeeded in blocking the way in front of those who make tendentious speeches that serve neither the nation nor the victims themselves, creating a new generation of serious human rights activists who put the interests of the nation ahead of personal interests.