MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
|
|
Mauritania
Index
In 1980 the government declared sharia (Islamic law) to be
the official legal code
(see Legal System
, ch. 4). Since that
time, many Mauritanians have criticized sharia for failing to
consider environmental or sociological factors contributing to
crime, for ignoring official corruption, and for authorizing
particularly such brutal and extreme punishment as public
whippings and amputations, which were held at Nouakchott stadium
in the early 1980s (reportedly accompanied by cheering
onlookers). Only in August 1984 was amputation halted.
Treatment of prisoners worsened in the early 1980s when both
torture and detention without charge became increasingly routine.
Moreover, friends and relatives of prisoners also became victims
of harassment and repression. Foreign observers expressed concern
about the treatment and well-being of those arrested, especially
black prisoners.
In keeping with the tenets of sharia, the government moved to
eliminate alcohol consumption
(see Tenets of Islam
, ch. 2). On
October 2, 1986, the cabinet banned the import, purchase, and
consumption of alcoholic drinks for Mauritanian nationals; Taya
later extended the ban to foreign nationals, although diplomats
from foreign embassies and expatriate technical assistants were
exempt from the ban. Foreigners violating this law were liable to
expulsion; Mauritanian violators risked forty lashes in public as
prescribed by sharia.
Article 3 of the CMSN's Constitutional Charter of February
1985 stated that the CMSN had the power to grant amnesty, except
for violations that carried sentences of qissas and
hudud
(see Constitutional Charter
, ch. 4).
Qissas was retributory justice requested by the family of
a victim of a crime. Hudud was punishment prescribed by
sharia for religious crimes that would be dealt with by civil
courts in non-Muslim countries, such as adultery and drinking
alcoholic beverages.
In the Taya regime, however, strict discipline was tempered
with leniency. When Taya seized power, one of his first acts was
to pardon most political prisoners, including former President
Daddah, as well as five men condemned to life imprisonment for
their participation in the March 16, 1981, coup attempt. Among
other things, the terms of the general amnesty permitted
opposition groups to return to Mauritania.
Data as of June 1988
|
|