In Mauritania, what are the laws against racism for?

Despite laws supposed to protect blacks in Mauritania, they still deplore persistent racism. The death of a young man, arrested by the police, has revived the debate on this question.

His name was Oumar Diop. And his death, in Boghé, Mauritania, caused violent riots. While he was arrested by the police, Oumar Diop died. Demonstrations then took place to demand the truth about this death and, above all, to denounce racism. If an autopsy should shed light on this event, the death of the young man has once again revived the debate on racism in Mauritania.

It must be said that racism is well anchored in this country, which only abolished the slavery of black Mauritanians in 1981. Questioned by RFI, Ahmed Salem Ould Bouhoubeyni, president of the National Commission for Human Rights, admits, of course, that a long way has been covered on the subject: "Slavery has been raised to the level of a crime against humanity, and with regard to the issue of discrimination, there have been measures that have been taken, he said. We have worked on civil status, we have worked on the access of all citizens to public services in terms of access to justice, access to the civil service”.

However, claims, which the president of the NGO considers "completely legitimate", are still present in Mauritania. Because despite the legal arsenal put in place by the authorities to protect black populations, on the spot, racism still has a bright future ahead of it. “Today there is a policy of impunity against certain citizens. The police kill, arrest and torture without any legal proceedings. The systemic exclusion of the black community in the administration, the army, in diplomacy, everywhere, is visible ”summarizes Kaaw Touré, spokesperson for the Progressive Forces of Change, on international radio.

This is confirmed by anti-racist activists. In Afrique XXI, which considers that, "despite some legal progress made in an attempt to smooth ethnic divisions in Mauritania, an identity crisis and serious social and economic inequalities are fracturing the country", former senior civil servant Mamadou Moctar Sarr considers that the "racist policy" of power "enduring today". He sees, in Mauritania, a “phase of social and political regression ».

Alassane Harouna Boye, in his book "I was in Oualata", denounces "State racism". It must be said that, indeed, the authorities, failing to stem this phenomenon, have gone so far as to fuel racism. Since the 1960s, no statistical study has been published concerning the ethnic origins of Mauritanians. But when, in 2011, the government introduced the biometric passport, it asked all citizens to prove their "Mauritanianity" to the administration. At the time, black demonstrators protested. Problem: it is almost forbidden today to openly denounce “racism”.

The death of Oumar Diop has revived an endless debate on the condition of blacks in Mauritania. Will light soon be shed on the circumstances of his death?