MAURITANIA: POLITICAL ROUNDUP FOR THE WEEK OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 NOUAKCHOTT 000312

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/30/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM KPAO PHUM MR
SUBJECT: MAURITANIA: POLITICAL ROUNDUP FOR THE WEEK OF
APRIL 26-30

REF: A. NOUAKCHOTT 306

B. NOUAKCHOTT 308

C. NOUAKCHOTT 83

D. 08 NOUAKCHOTT 629

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Dennis Hankins for reasons 1.4 (b) and
(d).


1. (SBU) Summary: This week in Nouakchott, anti-coup
protests multiplied and the FNDD, labor unions, and civil
society joined forces through the signature of NDI's CFD
Charter, which earned them criticism from Ould Daddah for
accepting foreign money and interference. Deputy Sid'Ahmed
Ould Ahmed organized a majority parliamentarian sit-in to
protest "US interference." Two high-ranking officers were
arrested, and government vehicles were burned. While
mediation initiatives went nowhere, the Constitutional
Council published a final list of presidential candidates. A
Mauritanian judge ruled out little Hana Ould Maria's slavery
case and two anti-coup mayors were removed from office. End
Summary.


2. (U) Mauritanians march in Paris: Mauritanians marched in
Paris on April 25 to demand justice for the victims of the
"passif humanitaire" and called for a return to
constitutional order in Mauritania. They also called for
four current members of the High State Council to face
justice for their alleged roles in the "passif humanitaire":
- General Mohamed Ould Hadi, for his alleged role in the
massacres of Jreida
- Colonel Ahmedou Bemba Ould Baye, for allegedly killing
Afro-Mauritanian lieutenant Yaya Sarr
- Colonel Mohamed Ould Meguett, for allegedly killing
Afro-Mauritanian lieutenant Dia Ousmane
- Colonel Mohamed Ould Znagui, for allegedly torturing
Afro-Mauritanian military personnel


3. (U) Democratic women stage permanent protest: The women
of the FNDD have started a permanent protest site (by
erecting a tent) at UNAD headquarters in Nouakchott and plan
to protest until the coup is overturned. (Note: The UNAD
party, formerly known as PND, is the party of FNDD co-leader
Abdel Koudouss Abeidna. End note.)


4. (U) Vehicles burn: Four government vehicles were burned
the evening of April 24 followed by a fifth vehicle -- owned
by a military doctor -- on April 25. Nobody has claimed
these acts of vandalism, and the FNDD was quick to release a
communique condemning the acts. The junta was equally quick
to blame the FNDD and other anti-coup actors.


5. (U) Sit-in at the Senate: On April 26, FNDD and RFD
parliamentarians attempted to organize a sit-in at the
Senate, but the police prevented them from entering the
building.


6. (C) Arrests of army officers: On April 27 two colonels
were arrested, supposedly for "mismanaging funds." Colonel
Mekhalla Ould Dellali commanded the Jreida battalion, located
30 kilometers to the north of Nouakchott. Colonel Moctar
Ould Lekhal commanded a unit in Zouerate tasked with
protecting the borders with Algeria and Western Sahara.
Comment: "Mismanaging funds" is hardly a rare offense within
the armed services. The arrest of two prominent colonels has
only increased speculation that the two colonels were up to
something. The unit at Jreida is well-equipped and
well-trained (by Mauritanian standards),and is probably the
only unit in the country that could mount a serious challenge
to the Presidential Security Battalion (BASEP). End comment.


7. (SBU) Opposition signs Coordination of Democratic Forces
(CFD) Charter and Mauritanians accuse the US of interference:
On April 28 a group of civil society organizations, labor
unions, and the FNDD signed the Coordination of Democratic
Forces Charter stating their intent to oppose the coup and
restore constitutional order in Mauritania through peaceful

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and legal means. The initiative was not devoid of criticism.
Ahmed Ould Daddah, President of the RFD, labeled the CFD a
U.S. Embassy initiative and denounced the FNDD for accepting
funding from foreign governments. Ould Daddah confirmed to
Charge he had made the comment but said he had not intended
to make a big issue of it -- he accused the press of using
his comments to create a divide between him and the FNDD.
(Note: The initiative is actually an NDI initiative, not a
U.S. Embassy initiative -- a distinction lost in the press.
End note.) An article in the Arabic press and in local
newspaper Le Renovateur took things one step further ,
accusing the U.S. Embassy of funneling money from the
Israelis to the FNDD via the CFD, the reasoning being that
the Israelis were eager to get back at Aziz in retaliation
for severing relations. On April 30, Deputy Sid'Ahmed Ould
Ahmed organized a majority parliamentarian sit-in to protest
"U.S. interference practices" (See septel).


8. (C) Women against the coup: PolOff and PolAsst met April
26 with RFD Deputy Nana Mint Cheikhna, who participated in
the women's peaceful protest that was violently broken-up by
the police. Mint Cheikhna stated her intent to continue
resisting the coup by all legal means. She reaffirmed plans
for an "active boycott" of the June 6 elections should they
proceed forward, noting that Aziz was in a hurry to get the
elections over with so he could be crowned "president." Like
many anti-coup political actors these days, she raised the
specter of possible civil war if a consensual solution to the
crisis was not found, adding that "we were better off in the
60's and 70's than we are now." Cheikhna highlighted the
importance and growing role of women on the political scene,
saying they were "out in front, pushing people to move
forward."


9. (C) Meeting with CNCD/EN: Charge and PolAsst met April
27 with Mahmoudi Ould Saiboutt, president of the PMJD party,
and Mohamed Ould Nahah, president of the Rassemblement
Populaire party. They are members of the CNCD/EN ("National
Coordination for the Consolidation of Democracy/New Era") --
yet another initiative to solving the crisis. They expressed
anti-coup sentiments, but when pressed as to why they did not
just join the FNDD, they offered a vague argument relating to
their complaints about what happened to Mauritanians in
Senegal during the late 80s/early 90s (a type of reverse
"passif humanitaire"). They claimed that Aziz had a
well-equipped unit on standby in Akjoujt (his hometown) ready
to respond in case of any trouble such as a counter-coup.
They also stated (and numerous media outlets have reported)
that money was paid to the three other presidential
candidates by junta supporters. Finally, they said that Aziz
was planning to break relations with the U.S. after the June
6 elections. Comment: Clearly political lightweights, their
political parties have no real following or influence. Their
difficulty in remembering the name of their own initiative
during the meeting is indicative of the flood of "mediations"
and "initiatives" floating around these days. End comment.
The standard meeting took on greater significance when the
two politicians decided to issue a press release on the
content of their conversation with the Charge. While no
doubt trying to build their own credibility, their portrayal
of the Charge's negative remarks against the regime soon
became a local internet sensation with multiple calls for the
Charge to be PNGed (while others noted the Charge's comments
were an accurate description of the political situation).


10. (C) Ould Bettah's initiative fails: PolOff met April 28
with Mahfoudh Ould Bettah, who earlier in the week announced
the failure of his mediation initiative. Ould Betta stated
the mediation failed mostly because the military was not open
to dialogue.


11. (U) Final candidate list: The Constitutional Council
published on April 29 the final list of presidential
candidates. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz will be running against
Kane Hamidou Baba (Afro-Mauritanian),Ibrahima Moctar Sarr
(Afro-Mauritanian) and Sghair Ould M'Bareck (Haratine).

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12. (C) President Abdallahi postpones trip to Senegal:
Charge and PolOff met April 28 with FNDD's Mohamed Ould
Maouloud about President Abdallahi's planned trip to Senegal
(Ref A).


13. (U) Police disperse Supreme Court sit-in demonstration:
April 29, police used batons and tear-gas to disperse a
demonstration calling for the liberation of deposed Prime
Minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghef and others accused of
corruption in the Air Mauritanie scandal. For the
opposition, these accusations were motivated by political
reasons. Several political figures, including the mayor of
Tidjikja, Mohamed Ould Biha (Ref D),were injured during the
demonstration and taken to the hospital.


14. (C) Judge rules out little Hana's slavery case: PolOff
met April 28 with Biram Ould Dah, SOS Esclaves member, to
inquire about the latest slavery case. Ould Dah explained
that SOS Esclaves had received a tip stating that 10-year old
Hana Mint Maria lived in slavery with a family in Nouakchott.
SOS Esclaves tried to liberate Hana, who works as a house
servant, sleeps in the verandah, does not know how to read or
write, and showed obvious signs of sexual abuse.
Nevertheless, the judge brokered an agreement between Hana's
mother, also a slave, and Hana's masters, and then ruled that
the "slavery case" was nothing more than a "family affair"
because Hana was the slave-masters' niece and had been put in
their charge by her mother. The judge ruled Hana should
remain with her "aunt and uncle". Biram denounced the
judge's utter disregard for anti-slavery laws and for the
Children's Legal Protection Code that protects children from
sexual abuse, mistreatment, and endangerment.


15. (C) Meeting with Senator Sylla: PolAsst met April 30
with Senator Sylla (Ref B).


16. (C) Mayors removed from office: The anti-coup mayors of
Nema and Sava were forced out of office by their respective
town councils this week. Local media reported that the
councils had been paid off by junta supporters in exchange
for ousting their mayors and replacing them with people more
sympathetic to Aziz. Nema mayor Vadily Ould Ahmed had been a
strong critic of the coup, and had already fought off several
other attempts to remove him from his post (Ref C).
HANKINS