End Slavery in Mauritania
- da: Care2.com
- destinatario: The Mauritanian Embassy to the United States
Its estimated that 40 percent of the population of Mauritania, West Africa, is either living in slavery or has a relative who is.
Slaves in Mauritania are raised in a social and religious system that reinforces the legitimacy of their situation everyday. Many are told by their masters that the only way to get to "paradise" is by obeying their orders completely. Slaves face beatings and rape on a daily basis, and have no legal way to stop it.
Although Mauritania criminalized the owning of slaves in 2007, anti-slavery activists say that very few are sentenced. Activists also report that authorities often refuse to take accusations of slavery seriously because many of them are slave owners as well.
Mauritania needs to recognise the basic human rights that thousands of citizens are being denied. Join us in putting pressure on the Mauritanian government by sending a message to the Mauritanian Embassy to the United States. Let them know that the practice of slavery is unacceptable and perpetrators need to be prosecuted now.
We, the undersigned, are shocked that so much of the population of Mauritania is living within the bonds of slavery. We urge you, the Mauritanian Embassy to the United States, to pass the message to the government of Mauritania that they must uphold the laws that they have enacted. Those who still practice slavery must be prosecuted and those held as slaves must be freed and protected.
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