It’s hard to believe, but at this very moment an estimated 10% to 20% of the population of Mauritania – 340,000 to 680,000 people – still live in slavery. This is despite the fact that in 2007, the country became the last in the world to outlaw the practice. Anti-slavery activists are arrested and the government acts as if there is no problem. Only one slave owner has been successfully prosecuted.
It’s the nuances of a person’s skin color and family history that determine whether he or she will be free or enslaved. Most slave families in Mauritania consist of dark-skinned people whose ancestors were captured by lighter-skinned Arab Berberscenturies ago. Slaves typically are not bought and sold — only given as gifts, and bound for life. Their offspring automatically become slaves, too.
SLAVERY'S HISTORY IN MAURITANIA
CIRCA 200 TO 1900s
Arab slave traders in the region that would become Mauritania capture darker-skinned people from sub-Saharan Africa and force them to work without pay. "You can trace this back for 2,000 years," said Kevin Bales, CEO of Free the Slaves.
1905
The colonial French administration declares an end to slavery in Mauritania. The abolition never takes hold, however, in part because of the vastness of the country.
1948
The United Nations adopts The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which abolishes slavery internationally.
1961
After gaining independence from France the year before, Mauritania adopts a new constitution abolishing slavery. The effort has little impact, according to written accounts.
1980 - 1981
Mauritania's government abolishes slavery and declares that it no longer exists. This abolition was "essentially a public-relations exercise," says Human Rights Watch. "True, the government abolished slavery," writes Bales, the American anti-slavery activist, "but no one bothered to tell the slaves about it."
1995
A former slave and a former slave owner start an anti-slavery organization called SOS Slaves.
2007
Mauritania passes a law criminalizing slavery. It allows for a maximum prison sentence of 10 years. To date, only one legal case against a slave owner has been successfully prosecuted.
MAURITANIA BY THE NUMBERS
SLAVERY
- Population: 3.4 million
- Percentage living in slavery: 10% to 20%
- Enslaved population:340,000 to 680,000
- Year slavery was abolished: 1981
- Year slavery became a crime: 2007
- Convictions against slave owners: One
GEOGRAPHY
- Area: 400,000 square miles, slightly larger than Egypt
- Capital: Nouakchott
- Bordered by: Mali, Senegal, Algeria, Western Sahara
- Landscape: Sahara Desert, Sahel
- Farmable land: 0.2%
PEOPLE
- Languages: Arabic, French and regional languages
- Official religion: Islam
- Literacy rate: 51%
- Unemployment: 30%
- Population density: 8 people per square mile
ECONOMY
- Percentage living on less than $2 per day: 44%
- GDP (purchasing power parity): $7.2 billion, less than Haiti
- GDP per capita: $2,200 (compared to $48,000 in the U.S.)
- Currency: Ouguiya
POLITICS
- Government: Republic (currently under military rule)
- Legal system: Mix of Islamic and French civil law
- President: Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz
- Recent history: Gained independence from France in 1960. Aziz came to power in a military coup in 2008, overthrowing first democratically elected leader. Aziz was elected in 2009 as a way to validate his rule.
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