Three Mauritanians have been sentenced in absentia to prison terms ranging from 10 to 15 years for the practice of slavery, according to a judicial source in Nouakchott.
The defendants who are on the run were sentenced to 15 years in prison for two of them, compared to 10 years for the third, the same source said, adding that the verdict was pronounced Monday evening by a specialized court, as part of the crackdown on slavery in the city of Nema, 1,000 km east of Nouakchott.
A fine of 500,000 ouguiya MRU (US$13,000) was imposed on each of the three defendants convicted of exploiting a Haratine woman (descendant of former slaves), contrary to her will.
The woman has been handed over to her parents and should, as a compensation for damage, receive the fines imposed on her torturers.
Slavery was officially abolished in Mauritania in 1980 before being incriminated and repressed by law in 2007, then classified “crime against humanity” and qualified as “inalienable” by a new law in 2015.
However, human rights organizations often accuse the Mauritanian authorities of not enforcing laws in this area.
MOO/cat/fss/abj/APA