Two Journalists Arrested, Internet Shut Down amid Disputed Election in Mauritania

Date of Occurrence

June 26, 2019

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On June 26, Mauritanian national police arrested Camara, the director of publishing for the weekly newspaper La Nouvelle Expression, at his home in Nouakchott, the capital, according to local news website Cridem.

Today, police also arrested al-Wadea, a presenter for the Mauritanian broadcaster Al-Mourabitoun TV, in Nouakchott, according to local news websites Future Afrique and al-Akhbar.

Mauritanian journalist Haiba Cheikh Sidati, who has worked with both Camara and al-Wadea and has been following their cases, told CPJ that no charges against either journalist have been made public and that both have retained legal counsel. He said that Camara is being held at the jail of the National Security Directorate, which is overseen by the Ministry of the Interior, while al-Wadea has been detained in an unknown location.

According to reports, the journalists are among more than 100 people who have been detained in the wake of Mauritania’s disputed presidential elections on June 22. According to the independent internet monitoring group Netblocks, the country has also faced a widespread internet shutdown beginning shortly after the elections.

“Mauritanian authorities should immediately release Seydi Moussa Camara and Ahmedou Ould al-Wadea and allow journalists to comprehensively cover the country’s political transition by restoring internet access nationwide,” CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour. “The Mauritanian government must prioritise the public’s access to information at this crucial time.”

CPJ emailed the public relations office of the Mauritanian National Gendarmie for comment but did not immediately receive a response, and calls to the phone number listed on the website of the Mauritanian Regulatory Authority, which regulates internet access in the country, did not go through. CPJ was unable to locate contact information for the Ministry of the Interior.

Netblocks reported widespread internet outages in the country beginning on June 25, describing the situation as a “near-total internet blackout.” Today, sporadic reports on social media indicated that internet access had been restored to some locations, but CPJ could not confirm which cities and regions have access. Netblocks posted an update on July 3 saying that some connectivity had been restored to the country but that access rates were still below 70% of their normal levels.

Netblocks director Alp Toker told CPJ in an email that “a significant proportion of wireless and fixed-line users are back [online],” but that the organization did not know which specific regions or demographics remain disconnected.

Actions Taken

Ten-day internet shutdown lifted

On the 3rd of July, Mauritanian authorities lifted their ban on the internet shutdown. The Ministry of the Interior reportedly ordered the shutdown for security reasons, although activists and human rights groups believe the real aim was to prevent the opposition from mobilizing protesters.

The government first disrupted access to mobile internet around mid-day local time on June 23, according to the Media Foundation for West Africa. Forty-eight hours later, they also disrupted access to fixed line connections.

The disruptions affected Mauritania’s internet service providers: Mauritel, Chinguitel and Mattel. The companies did not provide a reason for the disruptions or notify their users before they took place.

Also, one of the two arrested journalists was released on July 3. Seydi Moussa Camaras is the director of publishing for the weekly independent newspaper La Nouvelle Expression. He spent a week in detention before he was released on July 3. According to Reporters Without Borders, state security agencies accused him of disputing the election results during phone calls:

RSF has learned that the state security agents who arrested Moussa at his home, seizing all of the mobile phones and laptops there, accused him of disputing the election results during phone conversations, suggesting that his calls had been tapped.

According to human rights groups, Al-Wadea, known for criticising the outgoing president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who was also arrested on the 26th of June, remains in detention in an undisclosed location. It remains unclear which charges he faces.