On 28 November 2025, several activists were arrested in Nouakchott during a peaceful demonstration marking the 65th anniversary of Mauritania’s independence and commemorating the Inal Massacre of 1990. The protest was organised by associations of victims’ families and survivors seeking justice and reparations for the executions of Afro-Mauritanian soldiers.
The Inal Massacre occurred on 28 November 1990, when 28 Afro-Mauritanian soldiers were executed by hanging at a military camp in Inal, in the Dakhlet Nouadhibou region. The killings took place amid a broader period of repression and human rights violations targeting Black Mauritanian communities during the late 1980s and 1990s. Calls for accountability and reparations have persisted for decades.
According to reports, security forces arrested a number of demonstrators during the commemoration and placed them in custody at different police stations in the capital. Among those detained were Dieynaba Ndiom, women’s rights defender and grants manager at the Pananetugri Initiative for Women’s Well-Being (IPBF); Hawa Diallo; Jemila Ahmed and Kaaw Lô, activists with the Initiative for Resurgence and Abolitionism (IRA); Baalal Maïmouna Sall, Vice-President of the Widows’ Collective; and civil society activist Moctar Keita.
Most demonstrators were released on 29 November. However, Ndiom, Diallo, Ahmed, Sall, Keita and Kaaw Lô remained in detention. On 2 December 2025, Ndiom and five others arrested with her were brought before the Nouakchott West Court. Following the hearing that afternoon, the women, Ndiom, Diallo, Sall and Ahmed, were released although no clarity was provided at that stage as to whether proceedings against them would continue. The men, Keita and Lô, however remained in detention after the 2 December appearance.
On 5 December 2025, all six activists were brought before the judge of the Sixth Investigating Chamber at the Nouakchott West courthouse. The prosecutor requested detention orders on charges of “disturbing public order” and “participating in an unauthorised demonstration.”
The judge ordered the women; Dieynaba Ndiom, Hawa Diallo, Baalal Maïmouna Sall and Jemila Ahmed to be released on bail. Placed under the supervision of a guarantor, they were permitted to move freely within the country while remaining at the disposal of the prosecutor’s office. The men, Moctar Keita and Kaaw Lô, were however placed under judicial supervision, a more restrictive measure. which prohibits them from leaving Nouakchott and remain subject to court-imposed conditions pending further proceedings. A trial date has not yet been set.
The Media Foundation for West Africa is concerned over the arrests and the prosecution of the activists. The Foundation recalls that the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are guaranteed under Article 10 of the Mauritanian Constitution and calls on the authorities to ensure that any restrictions comply with constitutional and international human rights standards
