UN Authority Figures

UN Human Rights Council: Mauritania

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Tens of thousands of people in Mauritania live as bonded labourers, domestic servants or child brides. Local rights groups estimate that up to 20% of the population is enslaved.
Source: The Guardian, June 8, 2018.
Photo: Former slaves in Mauritania (File photo courtesy Magharebia via Wikimedia Commons)

Mission of the Human Rights Council:
"The General Assembly...2. Decides that the Council shall be responsible for promoting universal respect for the protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, without distinction of any kind and in a fair and equal manner; 3. Decides also that the Council should address situations of violations of human rights, including gross and systematic violations, and make recommendations thereon..." (Resolution 60/251)

Mauritania's Term of office: 2020-2022

Mauritania's Record on human rights:
"Human rights issues included allegations of torture by law enforcement officers; arbitrary and politically motivated arrests; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; restrictions on freedom of assembly, association, and religion; widespread corruption; rape and domestic violence against women with few victims seeking legal recourse; ethnic discrimination by government actors; criminalization of same-sex sexual conduct; continued existence of slavery and slavery-related practices with antislavery organizations subjected to restrictions on freedom of expression, association, and assembly; trafficking in persons; and minimal efforts to combat child labor."
(U.S. State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2018, Mauritania)