DETENTION OF ANTI-SLAVERY CAMPAIGNERS IN MAURITANIA

That this House is extremely concerned about the arrest and detention of high-profile anti-slavery campaigner and 2014 Presidential election runner-up, Biram Dah Abeid, and a number of campaigners and members of the Haratin minority in Mauritania engaged in peaceful protests against contemporary forms of slavery in the country in November and subsequently charged with multiple offences; is dismayed to hear allegations of the detainees' mistreatment, including sleep deprivation, denial of medical care and not being allowed family visits and of some detainees having been forced to sign false confessions; notes that Mauritania is consistently ranked as having the highest rate of slavery in the world, despite slavery being criminalised in 2007; and calls on the Government to raise these cases and related issues with the Mauritanian government and to work with its EU partners in the country to bring an end to slavery and landowners' exploitation of marginalised sections of society and to push for much needed land reforms.