Mauritania: The Yoke of Slavery

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galatians 5:1

While slavery was abolished in America over a 100 years ago, we know that slavery still exists in some parts of the world.  But those parts seem very remote and far away from us.  They are faceless and nameless places; the exception to the rule, a rarity.  Today, we will give some of them a name and a face, and we will see that unfortunately it is not as rare as we might believe. Mauritania was the last country in the world to abolish salvery in 1981, and there was no punishment for slave owners until 2007.  The government's official position is that slavery no longer exists in their country.  Since they turn a blind eye to the situation, there is little help for those who are trying to break free.  In the same way, the government refuses to acknowledge the Christians in their country.  The government claims that the country is 100% Muslim and there are no Christian churches.  The Christians meet in house churches in secret, and Bibles must be smuggled into the country.  As we pray for Mauritania this month, let's not only remember the Chrisitan's who are persecuted for their faith, but also those who are still trapped in slavery.  Let's pray that they will not only find physical freedom for their lives, but that they would be introduced to Jesus, who can bring freedom to their souls. 

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Mauritania

Basic Info: Mauritania is located in Northern Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Senegal and Western Sahara. It is slightly larger than three times the size of New Mexico, and it is mostly a desert that is constantly hot, dry, and dusty. The country's desert is expanding due to overgrazing, deforestation, and soil erosion because of drought. There are limited natural fresh water resources away from the Senegal, which is the only constant river. The country also still deals with locust infestations. Most of the 3,281,634 population lives in the cities of Nouakchott (capital) and Nouadhibou, and along the Senegal River in the southern part of the country. Citizens have a conscript service obligation of 2 years, but the majority of servicemen are believed to be volunteers. Mauritania is also a source and destination country for children trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation. In isolated portions of the country, master-slave relationships still exist. Mauritanian boys called talibe are trafficked within the country by religious teachers for forced begging. Children are also trafficked by street gangs within the country that force them to steal, beg, and sell drugs. Girls are trafficked internally for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation. The government of Mauritania has not shown progress in their efforts to eliminate human trafficking, either by prosecuting and punishing trafficking offenders, protecting trafficking victims, or preventing new incidents of trafficking. Progress that the previous government demonstrated in 2007 through enactment of strengthened anti-slavery legislation and deepened political will to eliminate slavery and trafficking has stalled. Law enforcement efforts to address human trafficking, including traditional slavery practices, decreased in 2009.

Government: The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is known as a military junta. The country became independent from France in 1960. Mauritania annexed the southern third of the former Spanish Sahara (now Western Sahara) in 1976, but relinquished it after three years of raids by the Polisario guerrilla front seeking independence for the territory. Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya seized power in a coup in 1984 and ruled for more than two decades. A series of presidential elections that he held were widely seen as flawed. A bloodless coup in August 2005 deposed President Taya and ushered in a military council that oversaw a transition to democratic rule. Independent candidate Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was inaugurated in April 2007 as Mauritania's first freely and fairly elected president. His term ended prematurely in August 2008 when a military junta led by General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz deposed him and ushered in a military council government. Following the Dakar Accords, which brought Mauritania back to constitutional rule, Aziz retired from the military and stepped down from the presidency in April 2009 to run for president. Aziz was elected president in July and sworn in the following month. The president is elected for a five-year term. The country continues to experience ethnic tensions among its black population (Afro-Mauritanians) and white and black Moor (Arab-Berber) communities, and is having to confront a growing terrorism threat by al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). The country has a combination of Islamic law and French civil law.

Economy: Due to severe droughts in the 1970s and 1980s, many of Mauritania's nomads and subsistence farmers were forced to move into cities. However, half the population still works with livestock and agriculture. Also, about 40% of the population is below the poverty line and 30% is unemployed. Mauritania's main export is iron ore, totaling about 40%. The coast contains some of the richest fishing areas in the world, but it is being overexploited by foreigners and is now considered threatened. The country was heavily indebted due to economic mismanagement and severe droughts. In 2000, Mauritania qualified for debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and nearly all of its foreign debt was expunged. In 2006, Mauritania and the IMF agreed to a three year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility. It was making good progress, but after the coup in 2008 the assistance and investment stopped. Since the election in 2009, the assistance has resumed. Besides reducing poverty, the government is also putting an emphasis on improving health and education, and privatizing the economy.

Religion: Muslim 100%

Islam has dominated Mauritania for over one thousand years. Any citizen who confesses Christ can be charged with apostasy and subject to the death penalty unless they repent and embrace Islam. Mauritanian citizens are not allowed to attend non-Muslim religious ceremonies. People have been tortured and imprisoned for showing interest in the Gospel. There are no specific laws against converting Muslims in Mauritania. The former government prohibited evangelism of Muslims through the use of Article 11 of the Press Act. However, in April 2006 this Act was effectively suspended by the transitional government as part of its effort to liberalize the press. Despite this, the government in practice prohibits involvement in converting Muslims to Christianity, viewing such activity as a method of undermining society. The distribution of materials against Islam or that contradicts the teachings of Islam is also prohibited. Bibles are not publicly available, though some can be found among the 0.25% of the population who are Christians. The government upholds a combination of several legal traditions, including Shariah law. The Constitution officially states that Islam is the religion of the people and the state. The vast majority practices moderate Sunni Islam permeated by folk magic, and the vast majority of Mauritanian peoples essentially remain unreached. Believers in Mauritania have at times been imprisoned, beaten for their faith or endured ostracism by family or tribe. Expatriate Christians suspected of proselytizing Mauritanians are subject to harassment, interrogation, brief imprisonment, expulsion and even murder. The murder of a foreign Christian by Islamic terrorists in 2009, as well as extremist activities, has led to many expatriate believers leaving the country.  Many Christians were attacked and beaten in July 2011 by an Islamic group led by a Muslim leader.


Info compiled from CIAWorldFactBook “Mauritania”; VOMC and VOM www.persecution.net www.persecution.com “Mauritania”
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Persecuted Church in Mauritania (2010)





Persecution News (2009)





Mauritania: Slavery's Last Stronghold (2012)





Born Slave (2008)







Mauritania: Help in the Desert (2012)





Mauritania: Scramble for Water (April 2012)