Black Mauritanians Demand Justice and Accountability
In the July heat, Black Mauritanians came from Ohio, Kentucky, New York, and Tennessee to protest outside the embassies of Qatar and Mauritania in Washington, DC. Their demands:
justice and accountability for the genocide carried out by Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya,
an end to apartheid in Mauritania today, and
emergency (TPS/DED) and permanent protection for Mauritanians in the United States.
The protests were covered by two international outlets, Al-Akhbar and Senalioune. Suspiciously, the article in Al-Akhbar makes no mention of Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya, although the primary demand of the protest was to hold him accountable for his genocide. This is just another example of how some media outlets censor the living history of Black Mauritanians, and why organizations like the U.S. State Department and international NGOs should speak directly to Black people about their civil and human rights there.
Following is a photo and video recap. Read more here.
“If you are not responsible for crimes, you should not be hiding.” Outside of the Qatari Embassy, Bakary Tandia shouts the crowd’s message for Maaouya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya. Qatar is shielding former president Taya from extradition and accountability for the genocide he orchestrated in the 1980s and 1990s.
Officials at the Qatari embassy offered the protestors water and dates, but refused to accept the letter they brought explaining their cause.
Houleye Thiam, President of the Mauritanian Network for Human Rights in U.S. leads the crowd in a chant: “Taya must face justice / Now!”
At the Embassy of Mauritania, protestors call for free speech and an end to discrimination.
“Stop the biometric genocide!” Mauritania uses its national census to undercount the number of Black Mauritanians in the country and suppress their political power. Black people of Fulani, Wolof, Soninke, and other origins refuse to be erased through this “biometric genocide.”
“Stop land grabbing!” One of the ways the Mauritanian government tries to drive out its Black population is by taking their land and water access, so that the government and foreign companies can profit. This backgrounder explains how land grabbing is used to destroy Black Mauritanian families and communities.
87 organizations are calling on the Biden administration to designate Mauritania for Temporary Protected Status or Deferred Enforced Departure. Here, two leaders of the Mauritania TPS Working Group convene: Catharine Christie of U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants and Houleye Thiam of the Mauritanian Network for Human Rights in U.S.
Protestors engage in a “die-in” to symbolize the many ways the Mauritanian government has been systematically extinguishing Black people, from the genocide to today’s denaturalization, land-grabbing, police violence, and language repression.
