Culture

Last to abolish slavery, Mauritania still hunts anti-slavery activists

The institution of slavery, though abolished some 37 years ago in Mauritania, still has significant scars on the country’s landscape

Published

6 years ago

July 23, 2018

Africa News Watch

The institution of slavery, though abolished some 37 years ago in Mauritania, still has significant scars on the country’s landscape.

The effect of the discredited practice came to the fore recently as two anti-slavery activists freed from prison in Mauritania vowed an all-out fight to rescue their nation from one of the world’s worst slavery rates, saying jail and torture were no deterrent.

Mauritania was the last nation to abolish slavery, outlawing it in 1981, and more than two in every 100 of its people still live as slaves, according to the 2018 Global Slavery Index.

Human rights groups say government made no effort to stamp it out and arrests people who speak out against it.

Abdallahi Matallah Saleck and Moussa Biram were jailed for their alleged role in a protest and charged with inciting riots and rebellion. They spent two years in a remote desert prison where they say they suffered horrible abuse.

“They tortured us, they did everything they could so we would back down. But we will never, ever back down,” Biram told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Less than a week after being released, both were back on the streets of Nouakchott, encouraging fellow members of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA) to stay strong.

“The fight has just begun,” Biram said adding he is not in good health and has injuries from torture and beatings. “I can’t even stand up because of my legs which people hit with batons.”

A government spokesman said allegations of torture were false and an independent body called the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture had visited the detention site in 2017 and found no human rights violations.

Government previously denied making arbitrary arrests and said that it prosecutes “unlawful and unregistered organisations that provoke riots, chaos and insecurity.”

Because government refused to register the IRA as an organisation, the men could be jailed at any time, said Francois Patuel of Amnesty International.

“We know we’re not safe, but we are not afraid,” Saleck told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“This is our country no matter what and we have to fight against discrimination and slavery,” he said.

Slavery in Mauritania follows racial lines, with black descendants of ethnic groups from the country’s south typically enslaved by lighter-skinned Mauritanians.

Some Mauritanians are born into slavery and spend their lives as domestic or farm workers.

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Culture

Ghana’s Afua Asantewaa begins second GWR sing-a-thon attempt

Published

5 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Ghanaian singer, Afua Asantewaa, on Saturday, began her second attempt at breaking the Guinness World Record (GWR) for the longest singing marathon by an individual.

The sing-a-thon which began in the early hours of Saturday, December 21, at Heroes’ Park, Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi, will run until December 25, and will see the determined songstress perform non-stop, focusing exclusively on Ghanaian songs.

According to Asantewaa’s manager, Madam Gladys Osei Owiredu, the audacious initiative is aimed at showcasing the rich cultural heritage of Ghanaian music to a global audience.

Owiredu confirmed that preparations for the event had been extensive but expressed confidence in Asantewaa’s readiness to finally break the record.

“I can confirm that she is ready for the task ahead. It’s been challenging—by way of preparations—but I can say she is ready,” Owiredu said.

Asantewaa’s second attempt follows her first effort in December 2023, which fell short of surpassing the current record of 105 hours held by India’s Sunil Waghmare.

But despite the setback, her team remains optimistic about breaking the record this time with corporate sponsors including International Maritime Hospital, Ghana Gas, Nasco Electronics, and Zoomlion Ghana Limited rallying behind her, underscoring the importance of the attempt in amplifying the global significance of Ghanaian music.

Culture

Ghana’s Supreme Court dismisses suit challenging anti-LGBT bill

Published

3 days ago

December 19, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Ghana’s Supreme Court has dismissed two separate suits challenging the legality of one of the proposed anti-LGBT legislations awaiting assent into law by the president.

The separate suits were filed by two legal practitioners, Amanda Odoi and Richard Sky, challenging the bill, seeking to declare it illegal and prevent the president from signing it.

The two cases had challenged the constitutionality of the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill.

But in a ruling on Wednesday, the Supreme Court unanimously decided to dismiss the legal challenges to the new anti-LGBT legislation that has been criticised by rights groups.

The controversial bill was passed earlier this year by Ghanaian lawmakers with three years imprisonment for people identifying as LGBT and five years for forming or funding LGBT groups.

While dismissing the cases, presiding judge, Justice Avril Lovelace-Johnson, who delivered the ruling on behalf of the seven-member panel, said the cases were premature.

“Until there’s presidential assent, there is no act, the two cases were “unanimously dismissed,” she said.

The ruling is the latest blow to the LGBTQ community in Ghana and paves the way for the president to sign into law what many say is one of Africa’s most restrictive piece of anti-LGBTQ legislation.

President Nana Akufo-Addo, whose term in office ends on 7 January, had delayed signing it pending the outcome of the Supreme Court challenge but the judges said the case could not be reviewed until it had been signed it into law.

It expected that incoming president, John Mahama, will sign the bill into law as he had always expressed his support for the bill during his electioneering campaigns.