Attacks on the Press 2002: Mauritania

Authorities banned numerous publications in 2002, including an issue of the bimonthly French-language Le Rénovateur in July. The paper's editor told the local press that the ban stemmed from an article about foreign exchange and price increases of basic goods. In August, the Interior Ministry halted printing of an edition of the weekly Le Calame, which carried a report about protests in France against Mauritanian president Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya, who was on a state visit there at the time.

Journalists who angered the government were arbitrarily detained during 2002. Authorities held Mohammed Fall Ould Oumere, editor of the weekly French-language La Tribune, for 10 days in April after accusing him of belonging to an anti-government group called Conscience and Resistance. Oumere had written an article about the group in a March issue of La Tribune. Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Bakkar, publisher of the monthly Al-Khaima and the weekly Assahafa, was held for two days in September for allegedly belonging to the same group.

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Mohammed Lemine Ould Bah, Radio Monte Carlo Middle East, Radio France International


Bah, a correspondent for Radio Monte Carlo Middle East and Radio France International, was temporarily banned from practicing journalism after the minister of communications objected to his reports on the state of relations between Senegal and Mauritania.