In the capital city of Nouakchott, Mauritania, a high-stakes political conflict has erupted after two female opposition parliamentarians were formally hit with multiple criminal charges, stemming from public accusations that President Mohamed Ould Ghazouani holds discriminatory views against Black Mauritanians and people born to former slave families.
According to the country’s top prosecutor, the charges, formally filed Monday, extend far beyond the initial allegation of insulting the head of state. The two lawmakers — Marieme Cheikh Dieng and Ghamou Achour — also face accusations of inciting sectarian violence, undermining national state symbols, and organizing unlawful gatherings through social media platforms that are alleged to threaten domestic public security.
The pair had been held in police custody for more than 10 days following their critical social media posts targeting Ghazouani. Both politicians are affiliated with the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA), an anti-slavery coalition that holds unregistered political status and ran its candidates in alliance with the formally registered Sawab party to secure their parliamentary seats.
The issue of slavery and systemic discrimination against descendants of enslaved people remains one of the most divisive and sensitive political topics in Mauritania, decades after the practice was formally outlawed by the state. Biram Dah Abeid, founder and leader of the IRA coalition, has condemned the prosecutions as a targeted political witch hunt, noting that both lawmakers themselves are descendants of former slaves. He argues the charges are a deliberate attempt to silence opposition voices that challenge the government’s ongoing failure to address systemic inequality.
Prosecutors have argued that the severity of the charges strips the two elected officials of their constitutionally protected parliamentary immunity, clearing the way for the criminal case to move forward. But legal representatives for Dieng and Achour have rejected this legal reasoning outright, claiming the entire prosecution is nothing more than a political reprisal to settle partisan scores with government opponents.