Mauritania: Anti-slavery NGO denounces arrest of 8 peasants

Nouakchott, Mauritania (PANA) – The Mauritanian anti-slavery NGO, called "Initiative for the resurgence of the abolitionist movement (IRA)", has denounced the arrest of eight peasants in the region of Kiffa (600 km East from the capital Nouakchott, in the administrative district of Guerou), demanded their release and end to "slavery", according to a press statement from the NGO here Friday.

The NGO warned that the Mauritanian government risked a revolution if it continued to oppress peasants.

It said that the peasants were arrested over a land dispute.

“The eight peasants, who were among some slaves recently released, returned home to find out they no longer have access to their land as their masters had taken them over," it said.

Although the law criminalizing slavery has been adopted in Mauritania, the scourge is still widely practiced in the country.
-0- PANA SAS/BEH/MSA/VAO 18April2014