Human Rights Council – 57 th Regular Session
Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery
12 September 2024
Oral statement delivered by Diko Hanoune on behalf of No c’è Pace Senza Giustizia
“My name is Diko Hanoune, I am speaking on behalf of No Peace Without Justice.
While congratulating the Special Rapporteur for his work on slavery in all its forms and how to end it, we would like to draw his attention to the case of Mauritania, whose government is not respecting its commitments to combat one of the oldest and most radical forms in force in the country.
Laws certainly exist, but they are not implemented. Structures responsible for ensuring respect for human rights, such as the police station and the national commission established for this purpose, have been politicized and defend the state to the detriment of the victims of slavery. Associations that defend victims are not supported by the state or are even persecuted by it.
Currently, the Haratine victims of this segregationist system continue to be ignored in the Mauritanian constitution, they are deprived of access to arable land, decent housing, education, healthcare, civil status and the list is very long.
To put an end to this unacceptable reality, the 2015 law that criminalizes slavery must not only be fully implemented but also reinforced by concrete support measures.
Thank you for your attention.”.
