Mauritania: Release Mohamed Ould Ghadde from arbitrary detention now, say UN experts

French

GENEVA (13 July 2018) – Mauritania must immediately free Senator Mohamed Ould Ghadde from detention and provide him with any medical care he needs, said a group of UN experts.

“We call on Mauritania to respect its human rights commitments with regard to Mr. Ghadde. He has been deprived of his freedom arbitrarily because of his political activism,” said the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

Mr. Ghadde was arrested on 10 August 2017, five days after Mauritanians voted in a referendum, which he had opposed, to abolish the Senate of which he was a member.

The UN experts have already published the opinion no. 33/2018 stating that his detention is arbitrary and have called for him to be released. Their new call for his freedom follows comments by the Mauritanian President, who said in a recent television interview that his country was not planning to act on the opinion of the Working Group.

“We are concerned by any public statement that may undermine the separation of judicial and executive powers. This separation must be preserved,” the experts said. The Working Group made clear that any interference by the Executive would contravene the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights with regard to the impartiality and independence of the courts.

“Mr. Ghadde should be released immediately and granted the right to compensation and a guarantee that there will be no repetition of the treatment he has received, in accordance with international law,” they emphasized.

“We urge Mauritania to consider its obligations under the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In particular, Mauritania has undertaken to guarantee the right to liberty, security and a fair trial, and to provide remedies for those who are arbitrarily deprived of their liberty,” said the experts.

“We therefore urge Mauritania to release Mr. Ghadde now, and to also free three other men detained arbitrarily, Mohammed Shaikh Ould Mohammed Ould M. Mkhaitir (opinion no. 35/2017), Moussa Biram, and Abdallahi Matala Saleck (opinion no. 90/2017),” the experts said.

ENDS

The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention is comprised of five independent expert members from five regions of the world: Mr. Seong-Phil Hong (Republic of Korea), current Chair-Rapporteur; Ms. Elina Steinerte, Vice-Chair on communications (Latvia), Ms Leigh Toomey, Vice-Chair on follow-up (Australia); and Mr. Sètondji Roland Adjovi (Benin); Mr. José Antonio Guevara Bermúdez, Focal Point on reprisals (México).

The Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

UN Human Rights, Country Page – Mauritania

For inquiries and media requests, please contact Ms Lucie Viersma (+41 22 928 9380 / lviersma@ohchr.org).

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts please contact:
Jeremy Laurence (+41 22 917 9383 / jlaurence@ohchr.org).

This year is the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN on 10 December 1948. The Universal Declaration – translated into a world record 500 languages – is rooted in the principle that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” It remains relevant to everyone, every day. In honour of the 70th anniversary of this extraordinarily influential document, and to prevent its vital principles from being eroded, we are urging people everywhere to Stand Up for Human Rights: www.standup4humanrights.org.