Coming from French colonial rule, Mauritania was ethnically divided between Arabic speaking tribal confederations of the north and sedentary black populations of the south, many of whom were traditionally bonded communities or enslaved individuals.
The demonstrators were protesting a national voter registration campaign that they believed would discriminate against Afro-Mauritanians due to an alleged lack of ethnic balance among officials evaluating citizenship.
[8]: page: 2 The Constitution and statutes of Mauritania prohibit these practices, and according to the governmental Commissariat for Human Rights, Humanitarian Action, and Relations with Civil Society, there were no documented cases of torture during 2011.
Torture methods in 2011 and previous years reportedly included kicking, beating, electric shocks, cigarette burns, pulling out of hair, sexual violence, suspension by the arms, shackling in painful positions, and deprivation of sleep and food.
[8]: pages: 4–5 There were reports that police did not inform family members or friends of the location and condition of detainees in a timely manner, preventing them from receiving adequate food.
[8]: page: 5 There were no reports in 2011 that men were denied the right to observe Muslim prayer obligations individually, but the penitentiary administration confirmed that inmates did not have regular access to imams.
On 29 September, the media reported that following a violent protest in Nouakchott against the national registration initiative, security forces entered private residences without warrants and arrested approximately 20 individuals.
[8]: pages: 9–10 On October 5, 2011, the legislative branch adopted amendments to the 2006 Press Freedom Law that abolished prison sentences for slander and defamation of individuals, including heads of state and accredited ambassadors.
[8]: page: 10 Signaling the end of the government's 51-year monopoly of the broadcast media, on 18 September 2011, the High Press and Audiovisual Authority (HAPA) began taking applications for five new radio stations and five new television channels to be owned by nongovernmental entities.
[12][14] On 26 February 2010, Hanevy Ould Dehah, Director of Taqadoumy, received a presidential pardon after being detained since December 2009 despite having served his sentence for crimes against Islam and paying all imposed fines and legal fees.
The sentencing judge accused Dehah of creating a space allowing individuals to express anti-Islamic and indecent views, based on a female reader's comments made on the Taqadoumy site calling for increased sexual freedom.
[8]: page: 12 In 2011, the government provided protection against the expulsion or return of refugees to countries where their lives or freedoms would be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
However, the government indefinitely postponed scheduled elections of municipal councilors, the members of the National Assembly, and another third of Senate seats, due to inability to reach agreement with opposition parties.
[8]: page: 14 Mauritania returned to constitutional rule in 2009 following the Dakar Accord,[25] which resulted in the agreement of President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi to resign and the formation of a Transitional Government of National Unity.
[8]: page: 17 The constitution and statutes of Mauritania does not provide for the equality for all citizens regardless of race, national origin, sex, or social status and prohibit racial or ethnic propaganda.
Increased government, media, and civil society attention to the problem, including the health risks associated with excessive body weight, led to a marked decline in the traditional encouragement of female obesity.
Overeating to conform to cultural standards was practiced primarily in rural areas, but many urban women endangered their health by taking pills to gain weight or increase their appetite.
[8]: page: 18 The government in 2011 recognized the right of individuals and couples to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing, and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so free from discrimination, violence, or coercion.
Because consensual sex outside of marriage is illegal, a "weli" (tutor) can present a case to local authorities requesting permission for a girl younger than 18 years old to marry.
[8]: page: 21 Female genital mutilation (FGM) was practiced in 2011 by all ethnic groups and performed on young girls, often on the seventh day after birth and almost always before the age of six months.
During the year, the local nongovernmental organization Infancy and Development in Mauritania monitored 760 children in Nouakchott and Nouadhibou who lived on the streets largely as the result of poverty and the urbanization of formerly nomadic families.
Reliable data on the total number of slaves do not exist, but according to the estimate of a respected Mauritanian nongovernmental organization (NGO), slavery may affect up to 20 percent of the population in both rural and urban settings.
[29]: page: 243 [30] Some boys from within Mauritania and other West African countries who study at Koranic schools – referred to as "talibes" – are subsequently subjected to forced begging by corrupt religious teachers known as "marabouts".
Men from Middle Eastern countries use legally contracted "temporary marriages" as a means to sexually exploit young girls and women in Mauritania.
According to human rights activists and press reports, local authorities allowed Moors to expropriate land occupied by former slaves and Afro-Mauritanians or to obstruct access to water and pastures.
Its goals were to reduce poverty among the 44,750 former slaves in the Assaba, Brakna, Gorgol, and Hodh Ech Chargui regions and improve their access to water, health, education, and income-generating opportunities.
However, the program's activities were reduced during 2011 after former human rights Commissioner Ould Daddeh was arrested and detained along with senior-level staff, including its coordinator and its financial director, on findings of corruption and bad management in a government inspection.
[8]: page: 24 The government also continued in 2011 its collaborative program with the United Nations on conflict prevention aimed at promoting democratic values and the rights of marginalized populations, including former slaves.
Such practices occurred primarily in areas where educational levels were generally low or a barter economy still prevailed, and in urban centers, including Nouakchott, where slavery-like domestic service existed.
Women with children faced particular difficulties and could be compelled to remain in a condition of servitude, performing domestic duties, tending fields, or herding animals without remuneration.