Wednesday's coup d'etat in Mauritania by an 11-member military council led by Gen Mohammed Ould Abdel Aziz, who had been sacked by Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, the president, threatens not only the stability of the country, but also much needed foreign aid and investment, analysts said. Mauritania today marks one year since slavery was criminalised, and wide-ranging aid packages hinged on this law - as well as other democratic reforms - being implemented. "This throws everything up in the air," said Kevin Bales, president of the New York-based Free the Slaves organisation. "This seriously jeopardises the flow of ongoing aid from France and the United States, in addition to the dramatic increase in aid coming from [non-governmental organisations]." The junta, which took over the presidential palace, the prime minister's office and the state broadcaster, said yesterday it would soon hold new presidential elections, apparently in response to international pressure. Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, called on the military to release the president and prime minister and "restore the legitimate, constitutional, democratically elected government immediately". Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, called for "the restoration of constitutional order", a spokesman said, while the European Union threatened to cut ties. Mauritania had been something of a "pariah state" before the election of Mr Abdallahi in April 2007, Mr Bales said, but after assurances of democratic reforms - in particular the criminalisation of the practice of slavery - it looked to be gaining acceptance into the international community. The military council pledged to respect treaties and other commitments binding Mauritania, but in a country where almost one-fifth of the population is enslaved, and the practice dates back more than 1,000 years, analysts said it would be a long time before the shackles are removed. The unanimous adoption of the law by Mauritania's legislature on Aug 8 last year was hailed as a historic moment by rights groups and anti-slavery campaigners, but in the year since there has not been a single prosecution for slave ownership. "We brought victims before the authorities, but [they do] nothing," said Romana Cacchioli, West Africa programme director for the London-based Anti-Slavery organisation. "They try and minimise the complaints; they try and resolve them without [recourse to] the law. But this [slavery] is a serious crime." Successive Mauritanian governments have denied the existence of slavery and forbidden research into the subject, making it impossible to ascertain the exact number of slaves. But analysts and rights groups, such as SOS Slaves, a Mauritanian charity that campaigns against slavery, estimate that 540,000 people, or about 18 per cent of Mauritania's three million population, are enslaved. The victims - predominantly black Africans owned by Moors of Arab and Berber descent - are born into slavery and endure a life of servitude, forced labour and physical and sexual abuse. Berbers are indigenous people of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. "The slave is owned by the master and his family," said Boubacar Messaoud, a former slave and president of SOS Slaves. "He cannot go anywhere or do anything without his master's permission." Those tempted to flee run the risk of beatings and death at the hands of their masters or, if successful, face the prospect of a life of begging or prostitution because of a lack of economic opportunities. Slaves and their children are inherited as property by their owners and can be rented out or lent for commercial or other purposes. They are even given as wedding gifts. "It's like having sheep or goats," Mr Messaoud said. "If a woman is a slave, her descendants are slaves." The patriarchal nature of Mauritania's society makes the lives of female slaves doubly hard. "By virtue of their gender and status, female slaves are frequently beaten and raped by their masters who consider them to be their property," said a recent report by Anti-Slavery in London. According to historians, slavery arrived in Mauritania in the seventh century with the invasion of Arab and Berber armies and the expansion of the Islamic empire. Many of Mauritania's black inhabitants were subsequently captured as slaves to be used locally by the invading peoples, who eventually settled, or were taken to be sold in the burgeoning slave markets across north Africa and the Arabian peninsula. Over hundreds of years the system of slavery has become deeply ingrained in Mauritania's economy and culture, and, Mr Messaoud said, has penetrated almost all levels of society, from government officials to the judiciary to private businessmen. Most slaves have no concept of freedom, and in many cases see their enslavement as normal. This, rights groups said, is one of the major obstacles to rooting out the practice. "They [slave owners] don't need chains and whips because no one steps outside of the system," Mr Bales said. "If you've never had any notion of freedom, your odds for survival [outside of slavery] are pretty low." Moreover, religion is widely used to propagate slavery. "Many religious leaders - who mostly come from the [Moorish] elite - erroneously use Islam to justify slavery," said Ms Cacchioli. "The master will tell the slave: 'If you don't obey me you will forgo paradise'." Slavery has been prohibited on a number of occasions, first under French colonial rule, and then in 1981 when it was formally abolished, but the practice continued. Abdarahmane Wone, a New York-based member of the African Liberation Forces of Mauritania, said the criminalisation of slavery had to be implemented for any real change to take place, and accompanying measures had to be taken to give freed slaves the opportunity to make new lives for themselves. "They need to be able to send their kids to school and to get jobs," he said. "The government needs to take affirmative action. "But right now it's just politics. The [criminalisation] law is not being implemented." Ms Cacchioli said a large scale awareness campaign was necessary to teach slaves of their right to freedom and slave owners of the penalties they face. She said the continuation of foreign aid and investment in Mauritania had to be conditional on the government's eradication of slavery and assurances that freed slaves are given access to health, education and job opportunities. "Now the big job is a comprehensive plan of social and economic integration and to ensure all slaves are economically independent," she said. "It's going to take a long, long time because there is so much that needs to be changed. I can't tell you how grim it is." Mr Bales said he feared the coup could disrupt such plans and the flow of aid. "It's heartbreaking to know the military is willing to risk all that," he said. "This cannot be good for the people of Mauritania." @Email:jspollen@thenational.ae
