A BIT OF JUNTA BLOVIATING ON HUMAN RIGHTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L NOUAKCHOTT 000578 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/07/2013 TAGS: PHUM PGOV PINR MR SUBJECT: A BIT OF JUNTA BLOVIATING ON HUMAN RIGHTS Classified By: CDA Dennis Hankins for reasons 1.4 (b and d) ¶1. (C) What was supposed to be a simple technical-level working October 6 meeting for 2008 Human Rights Report preparation between the AID Rep and a mid-level government civil servant, turned into an unanticipated meeting with the minister-level Commissioner of Human Rights, Humanitarian Action and Relations with Civil Society. While the Commissioner recognized that slavery and refugee repatriation continued to be issues on Mauritania's human rights record, he spent the majority of the meeting expounding on what he deems the cause of Mauritania's current security situation -- the United States. ¶2. (C) Commissioner Mohamed Lemine Ould Dadde is more than a fiery personality. He is one of the coup's intellectual leaders. For a brief period prior to his accepting the Commissioner position last month, Mr. Ould Dadde was leader of the elite intellectual political and human rights watchdog group, Conscience and Resistance. Firmly against the coup, Conscience and Resistance publicly disowned Mr. Ould Dadde when the latter accepted the junta's invitation to join the Commission. Now, Ould Dadde has both feet firmly planted in the pro-coup camp. He proudly describes himself as being from a military background, a long-time human rights activist, and a supporter of the August 6 "correction." Dadde exudes a kind of French actor cool -- a chain-smoking, stylishly coifed dandy. Comment: Ould Dadde,s conversion from an anti-establishment stance to one in strong support of the coup brings one to question his true motives. His passion for a high paying ministerial-level job may be stronger than his passion for human rights. End comment) ¶3. (C) During the hour-long discourse (more of a lecture), Ould Dadde launched into a series of "clarifications" and, at times, passionate outbursts in regards to the current political and social justice situation. He explained that Mauritania is currently in extraordinary circumstances that allow for exceptional policies. Furthermore, because the democratically-elected Parliament recently voted to support the HSC, his reasoning was that the HSC is the legal government entity. He assured the AID rep that this was indeed legal however he was unable to cite where in the constitution this scenario is allowable. ¶4. (C) When asked about illegal detentions and arbitrary arrests, Ould Dadde paused and asked that we get straight to the point, and talk about "former President" Abdallahi and "former Prime Minister" Waghef. He reacted strongly to the suggestion that they are political prisoners. Both, he argued, are in extremely comfortable environments, under house surveillance, not detention. He said that both men will be freed "as soon as the security situation permits." He continued by saying that the only illegally detained persons in Mauritania are the slaves. Quickly, Ould Dadde became defensive and edgy. Instead of pushing the subject further, we moved on to freedom of expression. ¶5. (C) Bluntly ignoring the protest rallies the previous evening where police reportedly beat and launched tear gas at demonstrators, Ould Dadde explained to AID Rep that Mauritania is a free country -- even more so that the United States. He explained that Mauritania is so free that the police at the October 5 rally had the time to joke around with each other and did not take the event too seriously. He went on to say that the protest ban was not to stifle free expression, rather it was to protect the citizens themselves because of the current security situation. ¶6. (C) Ould Dadde explained that the HSC is keeping Mauritania stable and needs donor support. But in the next breath, he declared that the United States is to blame for insecurity in Mauritania. He said that US's support of communists and Islamists in Mauritania is having a destabilizing effect and contributed to the recent Tourine attack, where 11 soldiers and one civilian were allegedly brutally murdered by Al Qaeda. He said the United States should have done more to help the military to prevent the incident; and after the incident the US should have done more to help the authorities to investigate. With increasing zeal, zest and a wagging finger, Ould Dadde went on to explain that not only is the US to blame for terrorism in Mauritania; but that the US keeps meddling in internal Mauritanian affairs and should just accept the fact that HSC is the legitimate Mauritanian government and cooperate with it. ¶7. (C) Comment: We continue to avoid all non-essential contacts with regime officials. Without official recognition from the United States and most other donors, the HSC is scrambling to legitimize itself by any official contact possible. In this case, they took a technical working-level meeting and forced it into a ministerial-level "courtesy" call. Moreover, the HSC used this opportunity to scapegoat the United States, and blame it for what is publicly deemed its biggest threat -- terrorism -- not unlike what the Taya regime did in 2004 and 2005. Not only were many of Ould Dadde,s comments made in anger but they are inconsistent with the facts. The word games applied about "Correction vs. Coup d'Etat" and "house surveillance vs. detention" makes them hard to take seriously. End comment. HANKINS