The unspeakable truth about slavery in Mauritania

147 points by Quouar a month ago on reddit | 8 comments

Wide-Pop6050 | a month ago

This is a topic I don't know much about. The article didn't exactly provide much information either, although it was interesting and heartbreaking to read their stories

Wide-Pop6050 | a month ago

d-r-i-g | a month ago

I just read this. Jesus Christ. I knew very little about this. Thanks

TrekkiMonstr | a month ago

Very few people do, because Mauritania isn't particularly geostrategically important, it doesn't have a large diaspora, it's just kind of there, doing its own fucked up thing while the rest of us don't even bother to look on. It's obscene.

nettika | a month ago

Ouch, that was an intense and difficult read. It gives so much more context and substance to the issue than the OP link- it's worth having its own post.

DeeperEnd84 | a month ago

Thank you, excellent but horrible read.

arianrhodd | a month ago

>Activists have tried to bring dozens of cases to trial since 2007, when the law criminalizing slavery was passed. Only one has been successful. In January 2011, Oumoulmoumnine Mint Bakar Vall was sentenced to six months in prison for enslaving two young girls, according to news reports. Yet the victory was seen as bittersweet: Anti-slavery activists were arrested and sentenced to 6 months in prison for bringing the case to the attention of the government, according to the human rights group Anti-Slavery International.

Anti-slavery activists were arrested and sentenced to 6 months in prison for bringing the case to the attention of the government--they were given the same sentence as the slaveholders. 🤮

[OP] Quouar | a month ago

One aspect I found interesting is how little we actually know. While Mauritania is largely rural with a dispersed population, there's also a concerted effort to hide what's going on. Journalists are regularly accosted, especially when they start interviewing enslaved people and investigating what's going on.