Legal framework on freedom of religion and actual application
The Islamic Republic of Mauritania on Africa's west coast is mostly desert. It is sparsely populated and is one of the poorest countries in the world. The nation has been an Islamic Republic since it gained independence in 1960. Article 5 of its constitution recognises Islam as the official religion of the State and its citizens.
Mauritania is the only Islamic state left in Africa after The Gambia became a secular republic. This, and the fact that its population is almost entirely Muslim, has a profound impact on everyday life in the country.
A report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights found that freedom of conscience and religion are not formally guaranteed in Mauritania, not even for Muslims. In fact, neither one of these freedoms is mentioned in the constitution. Non-discrimination on the basis of religion is not mentioned either. Changing religion is considered apostasy and carries the death penalty. Article 23 holds that the country’s president must be a Muslim.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Traditional Education (MIATE) is responsible for “enacting and disseminating fatwas, fighting ‘extremism’, promoting research in Islamic studies, organizing the Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages, and monitoring mosques.”
Mauritania’s Penal Code was amended in 2018 and the death penalty was made mandatory in cases of blasphemy, without exceptions. Before the amendment, Article 306 of the Penal Code only implemented the death penalty if the accused refused to show remorse or apologise, but this is no longer the case. The law also includes imprisonment of up to two years and a financial penalty up to 600,000 Ouguiyas (about US$15,940) for “offending public decency and Islamic values” and for “breaching Allah’s prohibitions” or assisting in their breach.
These changes were made in response to the case of Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaïtir, a Mauritanian blogger who in 2014 wrote an article critical of Islam. He was initially sentenced to death, but on 9 November 2017, an appeals court in Nouadhibou reduced the sentence to two years’ imprisonment and a fine. Devout Muslims in many cities of Mauritania took to the streets to protest the court’s decision and demanded that the death sentence be imposed. The last time the death penalty was carried out in the country was in 1987.
Concerning education, both public and private schools are required to provide Islamic instruction for four hours a week. International schools are an exception, as they are not required to teach the Islamic religion.
Officially, the traditionally nomadic population of Mauritania is almost 100 per cent Muslim - almost exclusively Sunni - and is mostly organised into Sufi brotherhoods such as the Qadiriya, the Tijāniyyah, and the Hamawiya.
The exact number of ethnic Mauritanian Christians is unclear as, in tribal culture, “leaving Islam is not only seen as religious betrayal, but also as a betrayal of the tribe and family.” Consequently, the few non-Muslims in Mauritania have no real opportunity to live out their faith, at least not publicly. Shari’a (Islamic law) is applied to civil matters, particularly when it comes to family issues. Some offences and certain violations of Shari’a are severely punished with flogging, stoning, and amputation.
Incidents and developments
The human right of religious freedom is not recognised. Foreigners can attend worship services freely, but local citizens are prevented from participating. “Unofficial government action effectively limits Christian worship to the Roman Catholic Church and a handful of other denominations. These Churches are prevented from proselytizing.” Churches are principally in the larger cities of Nouakchott, Kaedi, Atar, Nouadhibo and Rosso.
Mauritania hosted various international symposiums and forums on peace; the first one took place in January 2021, where President Ghazouani presided over the opening ceremony on the role of Islam in Africa. A joint statement was published at the end, reinforcing the tolerance teachings of Islam. In essence, “the forum explored areas of cooperation among Islamic countries and published a statement outlining the importance of tolerance and moderation in Islam in Africa.”
During Mauritania’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report at the UN Human Rights Council - considering the respect of human rights in all 193 UN Member States every 5 years - Cheick Ould Mohammed Mkhaitir “denounced continuing rights violations, including the practice of slavery and the persecution of anti-slavery activists, in his home country of Mauritania.” The Mauritanian delegates rejected recommendations “to decriminalize its apostasy and blasphemy laws or even to end the use of capital punishment” for nationals stating only: “Foreigners in Mauritania are free to practice their own religions”.
The latest peace forum took place in February 2022 and was titled “Making Peace for the World”. It was organized with funding from the United Arab Emirates. During this forum, Rashad Hussain, the American Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, said that peace is attainable when freedom of religion is guaranteed. He observed: “The strongest defence against the threat of violent extremism and instability is to protect freedom of religion or belief for all. In order to fully contribute to the development of their own societies, everyone must be able to think freely, follow their conscience, change their beliefs if their hearts and minds lead them to do so, and express those beliefs in public and in private.”
Prospects for freedom of religion
Little has changed in terms of religious life and religious freedom in Mauritania. Any deviation from Islamic belief is strongly opposed societally and legally nation-wide, and de facto lived as such in communities and through family pressure. Mauritania to date has resisted the spread of other forms of extremist Islam and all forms of Jihadism. Terrorist groups linked to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) are particularly active in the country’s eastern border regions, but as yet have not entered Mauritania.
Prospects for freedom of religion are negative, as no such freedom is respected.
Mauritania