Statement from the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture on its Team’s Visit to Prisoner Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz

On Monday, the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture issued a statement on the visit of a team from the mechanism to prisoner Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (former president) in his prison in the province of Tafragh Zeina on Tuesday evening, December 31, 2024.

The statement, a copy of which was received by the Mauritanian News Agency, said:

“A multidisciplinary team of members of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture, based on Letter No. 000066 issued by the head of the mechanism, visited prisoner Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz (former president) in his prison in the district of Tafragh Zeina on Tuesday evening, December 31, 2024 at ten o’clock in the evening.

First: The Mechanism expresses its satisfaction that there are no restrictions on the visit of any prisoner in the country by the Mechanism teams and obtaining the most accurate details regarding the conditions of his detention in complete freedom and with the full cooperation of the judicial authorities, without any interference from the executive authority.

It also expresses its thanks and gratitude for the cooperation of prisoner Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and his acceptance to speak freely to his visiting team, after refraining from doing so in previous visits, which undoubtedly helped her to carry out his work to the fullest.

In the light of the observations prepared by the visiting team through a lengthy solitary interview with the prisoner and the information obtained from the General Directorate of Prisons, the Mechanism reached a number of recommendations that were sent to the competent authorities for the purpose of dealing with them.

Since the reports of preventive and investigative visits are governed by the rule of confidentiality, just as is the case with the information provided by prisoners, and since the entire file is subject to an unfinished judicial process and ongoing judicial proceedings, the Mechanism reserves the publication of the content of its report and on the mention of any data or information that may affect the judicial process, and merely sends recommendations concerning the conditions of detention of the said prisoner to the competent authorities and undertakes to follow them up in accordance with the legal deadlines stipulated in the relevant legislation.”