This week began with the COD political rally in Nouakchott as planned. The president of the socialist RFD party, Ould Daddah, called for the closure of “Sal Ahaddin” prison in the north – assumed to be the location of 14 disappeared Salafi prisoners. Other speakers echoed his calls for increased transparency, and again called for President Aziz to step down. Everything was much as expected: speeches, applause, and everyone returned home. I think turnout was quite low compared to last year.
عاجل: الالآف يهتفون بإسقاط النظام في ساحة ابن عباس 2013-07-07 17:25:00 الالآف من أنصار منسقية المعارضة يهتفون بإسقاط النظام الموريتاني أفاد ..
http://www.tawary.com
July 7 was also supposed to be the date for release of Baccalaureate exam results affecting thousands of young Mauritanians. In fact they came out the next day, and the results were pretty dismal, with a pass rate around 10%. Among the success stories was a student with a talent for poetry, who achieved the highest score in mathematics; and a 17 year-old from Nouadhibou, who scored the highest marks overall. A nice touch that this top achievement goes to a female student, as there was a call this week for implementing positive discrimination to improve opportunities for women.
Evidence of tampering is suspected in this year’s test results for children wanting to enter secondary schools, as detailed in the story below. Considering the authorities have been unable to complete biometric registration of less than 4 million people in over two years, I find the notion that they are not capable of marking tens of thousands of exam papers – whether for high school or university entrance – entirely credible.
الأخبار: أول وكالة أنباء موريتانية مستقلة | شبه تلاعب بالتصحيح والرقابة بموريتانيا
الأخبار (نواكشوط) – أظهرت تحقيقات أجرتها وكالة الأخبار المستقلة على عينات من نتائج مسابقة دخول السنة الأولى الإعدادية 2013،وجود شبه تلاعب ..
http://www.alakhbar.info
Dozens injured in Sunday’s riot in the town of #Kaedi #Mauritania. Photo via D. Camara
Gando Dia
Maissou Salli Sy
Aboubakry Ba
Diawli Mamadou Moussa
Abdoul Sy
Aly Baba Ndiaye
Ousmane Thierno Ndiaye
Gorel Niang (son of the street trader who was assaulted)
مواجهات عنيفة بين الشرطة ومجموعة من الشبان في كيهيدي
شهدت مدينة كيهيدي جنوب موريتانيا مواجهات عنيفة صباح اليوم بين الشرطة ومجموعة من الشبان حاولت اقتحام سوق المدينة اثر خلاف بين تاجرة ..
http://www.saharamedias.net
The detentions increased to 30, including a local community leader, and they are all set to appear in court.
Arrests in #Mauritania: Activist Gando Dia (pic) and a number other black men held by Police @BBCAfrica http://t.co/JQmuYvWd74—
4Jstce in Mauritania (@SaidouWane) July 09, 2013
All Eyes on Egypt
Hard to imagine that anyone will be paying attention, but a Mauritanian MP from the RFD party, Ould Mini, succinctly pointed out that what happened in Egypt bears a striking resembleance to events in Mauritania in 2008. That was when the military, under General Aziz, overthrew the country’s first democratically-elected president Abdallahi in a coup. At the time, the US, EU and African Union withdrew their support.
More elections followed, after which the Aziz regime was granted a veneer of legitimacy by the African Union and Western allies, notably France. President Aziz has himself claimed, during a 2012 conference on the subject, that Mauritania was the first country to “benefit” from the “Arab Spring”. No one realised at the time he was not merely grandstanding.
الأخبار: أول وكالة أنباء موريتانية مستقلة | برلماني: انقلاب مصر مستنسخ من موريتانيا
الأخبار(نواكشوط) دعا رئيس الفريق البرلماني لحزب تكتل القوى الديمقراطية المعارض عبد الرحمن ولد ميني الحكومة الموريتانية إلى التنديد ..
http://www.alakhbar.info
An article on one of the more sensationalist news sites investigates the fast-growing trend of publishing sexually provocative video and images of Mauritanian girls, often without their permission, but on other occasions with their full knowledge and consent.
فتيات موريتانيات.. خارطة الجسد على قارعة “الفيسبوك (تحقيق)
المحيط نت
elmohit.net
Meanwhile, the campaign against pornography is seeking a court injunction to force local ISPs to block websites containing adult content of a pornographic nature.
منظمة ترفع دعوى ضد سلطة التنظيم لحجب المواقع الإباحية
بدأت منظمة آدم لحماية الطفل والمجتمع في إطار “مشروع لا للإباحية”، في إجراءات استصدار حكم قضائي بحجب المواقع الإباحية في شبكات ..
http://www.saharamedias.net
After levying new passport fees of 30,000 MRO for a passport, and enforcing mandatory renewal before old passports expired, authorities have now introduced a 64-page version with a 100,000 MRO fee.
Business customers are also now being asked to show a valid passport for bank withdrawals of 100,000 MRO or more.
It comes as no surprise, then, to learn that over 500 fake passports were seized by police during the 13 July arrest of a gang of forgers.
بعد ان اصبحت جوازات السفر ب 30 الف اوقية/ ظهور جواز جديد 64 صفحة ب 100 الف اوقية في #موريتانيا—
عبدالله الجيلاني (@AbdallahJeilany) July 07, 2013
Protests this week include:
- temporary workers employed by the state
- residents of several rural towns and villages who want reliable access to water and electricity
- fishing industry workers who were laid off
- political groups in support of Egypt’s former president Morsi
- transport drivers concerned about road safety and the new security procedures to prevent fuel smuggling
- Kaédi district, as noted above
الأخبار: أول وكالة أنباء موريتانية مستقلة | المفصولون من وزارة المالية يشكون عدم التجاوب
الأخبار (انواكشوط) ـ أعرب مجموعة العمال الـ 290 المفصولين من وزارة المالية عن أن السلطات الحكومية تتعامل معهم بطريقة مهينة تتمثل في عدم ..
http://www.alakhbar.info
الأخبار: أول وكالة أنباء موريتانية مستقلة | تفاقم معاناة البحارة المسرحين بمدينة نواذيبو
الأخبار(نواذيبو) – تفاقمت معاناة البحارة المسرحين فى العاصمة الاقتصادية نواذيبو وسط دعوات بتوفير بدائل للعاطلين وخلق فرص عمل فى ..
http://www.alakhbar.info
الأخبار: أول وكالة أنباء موريتانية مستقلة | سكان قرى آفطوط الساحلي يشكون العطش
الأخبار (انواكشوط) ـ وجه سكان قرى آفطوط الساحلي نداء إلى رئيس الجمهورية محمد ولد عبد العزيز يشكون فيه من أن حظهم من مشروع آفطوط الذي علقوا ..
http://www.alakhbar.info
الأخبار: أول وكالة أنباء موريتانية مستقلة | سكان كزرة طب زايد: تخطيط الأراضي يتجاوزنا
الأخبار (انواكشوط) ـ قالت المتحدثة باسم سكان كزرة طب زايد: حورية بنت دادك ولد اصنيبة إن سكان هذه الكزرة يسكنون فيها منذ عام: 1986م، وظلت ..
http://www.alakhbar.info
The youth who marched 450km on foot from Nouadhibou to the presidential palace in Nouakchott reportedly met with the president. I have not see photos or reports of the meeting so far.
One village, demanding electricity and water supply, is in an agricultural area plagued by locusts.
They threatened that they would not vote for Aziz again if these issues are not resolved. The promises of Aziz during his current tour to provide these essential services could be causing an outbreak of protest as a form of bargaining.
Image: Maryam Al-attiya
#موريتانيا :من الواضح ان اليوم سيكون حارا جدا في #نواكشوط كان الله في عون #الصائمين—
cheikhna taleb ahmed (@cheikhnatalebah) July 14, 2013
The feast of Ramadan started – this year is one with a lot of daylight hours and extremely high temperatures in Mauritania. When it is time to break their fast, people have to contend with paying between 10 and 140 percent more for their groceries than the same time last year, according to research by deyloul.com.
The government issued a short statement from Aziz in which he boasted of the relative security and stability in the country. Two days later it was back to issuing dire warnings about threats to security and stability.
Several donations of food and social aid were announced this week, aimed at helping the poorest families during Ramadan.
عزيز في خطاب رمضان يشيد بأمن #موريتانيا واستقرارها في عالم مضطرب، وولد جدين يقول بعد ذلك بيومين أن موريتانيا تحيط… fb.me/1NAur60Dv—
عبد الفتاح ولد حبيب (@afetah) July 13, 2013
Days after news that Benin would be seeking expert advice from Mauritania on building an airport, we heard that the new Nouakchott international airport project is stuck in the hangar.
In other news, there are concerns of impropriety in the administration of the police inspectors exam, and the chief executive of the sports stadium project has been arrested following a fraud investigation.
This week’s biggest corruption scandal comes (as so often) via alakhbar.info, which revealed extra-legal activities in assigning contracts with the finance ministry.
الأخبار: أول وكالة أنباء موريتانية مستقلة | صحيفة “الأخبار انفو” تكشف بالوثائق عن تعيينات خارج القانون بوزارة المالية
الأخبار (نواكشوط) كشفت وثائق ومعطيات رسمية نشرتها صحيفة “الأخبار إنفو” الموريتانية في عددها الصادر صباح اليوم الأربعاء عن اختلالات ..
http://www.alakhbar.info
Despite his office’s longstanding travel advisory notice warning against it, UK Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt visited Mauritania this week, immediately meeting with the new charge d’affaires on his return to London.
Other interesting visitors included the wife of Mali’s interim president Traoré, and a delegation from international philanthropist Sheikha Mozah, mother of the new Qatari ruler.
A new Mauritanian ambassador was accredited in Senegal.
This page is about Mauritania news, otherwise I would be adding an item about the release of hostages from South Africa on the border of Senegal and Guineau Bissau here.
Filed under: Activism, Events, Human Rights, Mauritania, Social Media, Updates Tagged: African Union, Arab Spring, Benin, Egypt, Kaédi, Mauritania, Nouadhibou, Nouakchott, Senegal
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