IMPRISONMENT OF HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS IN MAURITANIA

That this House condemns in the strongest possible terms the two year prison sentences given to three anti-slavery activists in Mauritania from the Haratin ethnic group, including 2013 UN Human Rights Prize laureate and 2014 Mauritanian Presidential runner-up Mr Biram Abeid, Mr Brahim Ould Bilal Ramdane and Djiby Sow; strongly supports the rights of these and other individuals to peacefully protest and work unhindered towards eradicating contemporary forms of slavery in Mauritania; is deeply concerned about the potential ramifications of such convictions on both the Mauritanian and global fight against contemporary forms of slavery, something to which the UK is a prominent leader; notes the reports that the defendants' non-governmental organisations (NGOs) headquarters have been forcibly closed since 12 November 2014; recognises the important role NGOs play in this regard; is dismayed about allegations of the defendants' pre-trial detention treatment, including sleep deprivation, denial of medical care and not being allowed family visits and of some detainees having been forced to sign false confessions; is therefore troubled by the multiple charges levelled against them and concerned that they may not have received a fair trial; and calls on the Government to urgently raise these cases with the Mauritanian government, to work with its EU partners in the country to bring an end to slavery and landowners' exploitation of marginalised sections of society, to raise this issue with the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights and to push for much needed land reforms.