| Arabic version_Joint statement Mauritania 3 pages / 106 KB |
Authorities in Mauritania should promptly and safely
release a blogger who remains in detention despite an appeal Court’s decision
one year ago tomorrow to commute his death sentence, Amnesty International,
Human Rights Watch, Freedom Now, the Forum des organisations nationales des
droits de l’Homme en Mauritanie and 28 other human rights groups said
today.
Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaïtir, 35, remains in custody
in an undisclosed location, with limited access to his family and no access to
his lawyers, after authorities failed to implement an appeal court ruling for
his release granted on 9 November 2017.
“Continuing to detain Mohamed Mkhaïtir demonstrates
serious contempt for the rule of law by the Mauritanian authorities. He is a
prisoner of conscience whose life is in the hands of the authorities solely
because he peacefully exercised his right to freedom of expression,” said Kine
Fatim Diop, Amnesty International’s West Africa Campaigner.
“Blogging is not a crime, and, in accordance with the
Mauritanian court’s decision, he must be released immediately and
unconditionally and the authorities should explore all available means to
guarantee his safety.”
Mkhaïtir was initially arrested on 2 January 2014
after he published a blog in December 2013 that spoke of slavery and
discrimination, including against the blacksmith caste, which he belongs to.
Following the publication of the blog, mass protests
calling for Mkhaïtir’s execution for ’blasphemy’- one of which the Mauritanian
President addressed sympathetically– took place across the country.
Charged with apostasy
Mkhaïtir ‘’repented’’ on several occasions during his
interrogation by police and in a written statement dated 11 January 2014. His
trial started on 23 December 2015 and he was charged with apostasy and
insulting the Prophet Muhammad, before being sentenced to death the following
day.
On 9 November 2017, an appeal court reduced his death
sentence to two years in prison, which he had already served, and a fine. In
March 2018, the Mauritanian Minister of Justice Mokhtar Malal Dia said in an
interview that “the blogger Mkhaïtir is still held somewhere in Mauritania’’.
In May, Mauritanian authorities informed the UN
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination that Mkhaïtir was in “administrative
detention for his own safety”.
For nearly a year, his lawyers have repeatedly
requested to visit him, but they have still not received an answer from the
Minister of Justice. Mkhaïtir is currently believed to be unwell and in need of
urgent medical care.
“Rather than respecting the court order, authorities
have refused to acknowledge the whereabouts of Mkhaïtir and deprived him of
contact with the outside world,” said Fatimata Mbaye, human rights defender and
Mkhaïtir’s domestic lawyer.
“This amounts to incommunicado detention, a
serious human rights violation. Authorities should end this arbitrary
detention, release Mkhaïtir and guarantee his safety.”
The United Nations has on several occasions criticized
the detention and death sentence of Mohamed Mkhaïtir. In June 2017, the UN
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that Mkhaïtir’s trial was
unfair, his detention arbitrary, and that Mauritania was in violation of
international law.
In May 2018, six UN human rights experts expressed
grave concerns about Mkhaïtir’s continued detention.
“This case is emblematic of the Mauritanian government’s
repression of freedom of expression and information, particularly human right
defenders campaigning against discrimination and journalists covering the
illegal use of slave labour,” said Kate Barth, Freedom Now Legal
Director.
“Mauritania must immediately and unconditionally
release Mohamed Mkhaïtir and stop jailing people who peacefully
express their opinions.”
BACKGROUND
The Mauritanian National Assembly passed a law on
April 2018 that replaces article 306 of the Criminal Code and makes the death
penalty mandatory for anyone convicted of “blasphemous speech” and acts deemed
“sacrilegious”.
The new law eliminates the possibility under article
306 of substituting prison terms for the death penalty for certain
apostasy-related crimes if the offender promptly repents.
The law also extends the scope of application of the
death penalty to “renegade acts.” The timing of the enactment of the law just a
few months after the court of appeal ordered Mkhaïtir’s release appears to be
related to his case.
Mauritania has ratified numerous international human
rights treaties including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
the Convention against Torture and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’
rights that protect the right to life.
The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and
degrading punishment.
The
United Nations Human Rights Committee will conduct a review of Mauritania’s
compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in
2019.
SIGNATORIES
1.
Action des Chrétiens pour l’abolition de la Torture
(France) ;
2. Africtivistes ;
3. Amnesty
International ;
4. Anti-Slavery International ;
5. Association des Blogueurs pour une Citoyenneté Active
(ABCA)- Niger ;
6. Association des Femmes Chefs de Famille (Mauritania) ;
7. Association Mauritanienne des Droits de l’Homme (Mauritania) ;
8. Association
Villageois 2.0 (Guinea) ;
9. Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) ;
10. Comité de Solidarité avec les Victimes des Violations
des Droits Humains en Mauritanie (CSVVDH) ;
11. Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort ;
12. FIDH
(International Federation for Human Rights) within the framework of the
Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders ;
13. Fondation
Sahel (Mauritania) ;
14. Forum des Organisations Nationales des Droits de
l’Homme en Mauritanie (FONAD) ;
15. Freedom Now ;
16. Freedom
United ;
17. GERDDES-Mauritania ;
18. Human
Rights Watch ;
19. International
Publishers Association ;
20. International
Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) ;
21. Initiative pour la résurgence du mouvement
abolitionniste (IRA-Mauritania) ;
22. Minority Rights Group International ;
23. PEN
America ;
24. Réseau des bloggeurs du Burkina ;
25. Pour une Mauritanie verte et démocratique ;
26. Réseau des blogueurs du Sénégal #NdadjeTweetup ;
27. Reporters without borders ;
28. SOS
Esclaves- Mauritania ;
29. The
Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights ;
30. Touche pas à ma Nationalité (Mauritanie) ;
31. Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization ;
32. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
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