DAKAR, Nov 7 (AFP) - All layers of Mauritanian society are guilty of
perpetuating slavery, more than 20 years after it was officially abolished
in the west African country, the head of a slaves' rights group said here
Thursday.
   "I'm 57 years old and, since high school, I have been fighting those
who  treat me like a slave," SOS-Esclaves (SOS-Slaves) president Boubacar
Ould Messaoud, a harratin or descendant of slaves, told a press conference
in the Senegalese capital Dakar.
   Appealing for far-reaching changes in the mentality of Mauritanians,
Ould  Messaoud said: "I took 50 years to liberate myself, to cast off my
complexes."
   He made his plea on the same day as international rights watchdog
Amnesty  International published a report in Dakar, condemning Mauritania
for continuing to practise slavery.
   "Even though slavery was officially abolished in 1981 and is banned
under  the Mauritanian constitution and law, no concrete steps appear to
have been taken to make the abolition a reality," the international rights
monitor said.
   Slavery has "long constituted a social problem within all of
Mauritania's  ethnic communities: white Moors, who hold political power;
black Moors or Haratins, generally considered to be descendants of slaves,
and blacks from the south of the country," Amnesty said.
   The so-called white Moor community was singled out for criticism in the
report not only "because human rights violations are more obvious there
than in other groups," but also because it holds the reins of power
and "could change the situation."
   Despite that, white Moors "maintain the discriminatory system in its
present state, essentially to protect their own interests."
   But Ould Messaoud argues that the problem affects all of Mauritania's
ethnic groups equally.
   "It is not a question of white superiority over blacks, it's a question
of  society," he said.
   El Joumaa Ould Maissara, a 52-year-old former slave, was also at
Thursday's  press conference in Dakar.
   He told the story, through Ould Messaoud, of how his mother, a slave,
fled  to Senegal when he was eight years old, leaving him to be raised in
Mauritania by his "masters."
   "I worked night and day, herding animals and doing domestic chores. I
never  went to school, never learned French," he said.
   In 1970, when he could "no longer accept being a slave", he went to the
capital Nouakchott and joined the army.
   Today, Ould Maissara considers himself a free man, but mentioned sadly
that  one of his cousins was "still with the masters."
   "She doesn't think life is possible without her masters, that leaving
them  would be a breach of divine law," said Ould Maissara.
   None of his cousin's six children were in school, he said.
   "When they grow up they will probably be slaves, like her."
   In its report, Amnesty expresses the hope that the persistent impact of
slavery in Mauritania will be eradicated by developing education and
through agrarian reforms.
   SOS Esclaves is not recognised by the Mauritanian government, despite
the  active campaigning undertaken by Ould Messaoud in Nouakchott, where he
works as an architect.
   The government does not "want us to denounce the dark side of our
country,"  said Ould Messaoud, defending his condemnation of slavery as not
being an incitation to rebellion.
   "We don't want violence, because what violence gets on the one hand, it
takes away on the other," he said.
   In its report, Amnesty recalled that Mauritanian President Maaouiya
Ould  Sid'Ahmed Taya "declared in 1997 that those who bring up the question
of slavery are trying to tarnish the country's image."
   The report was compiled with "information gathered and published by
other  people and organisations, in Mauritania and abroad" after Nouakchott
barred Amnesty's representatives from visiting to carry out research.
   In January this year, Nouakchott banned the Action for Change
opposition  party, led by Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, a haratin, accusing it
of using racist and violent language.
   Ould Boulkheir contends that the only way for Mauritanians to put
slavery  behind them is to publicly debate the issue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~