Photo Gallery: Police attack peaceful Mauritania election protest

21 November Update: The joint march of youth groups against the elections was again repressed by police but not as violently as on Monday, as these new photos show:

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Police violently suppressed a peaceful protest outside Mauritania’s Election Commission Monday 18 November 2013. The gathering was attended by more than 100 youth from the m25fev movement, COD opposition youth, and the recently formed election boycott protest movement Many of those injured were young women, and several casualties were taken to hospital with wounds from direct impact of tear gas canisters or having lost consciousness after being overcome by the effects of tear gas.

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Among those injured was a female MP,  Nana Mint Cheikhna, who was physically assaulted by the police. The parliamentarian is a member of the largest opposition party, RFD (Rassemblement des forces démocratiques) and President of the National Women’s Commission.

Nana Mint Cheikhna Mint Mohamed Laghdaf, MP and member of the RFD party

This violence on the part of state security forces has not deterred those who oppose the election from continuing with their planned protests. Wednesday there was a motorcade protest rally of vehicles touring four districts of the capital Nouakchott, the second such even organised by the 10 political opposition parties which are boycotting the November 23rd election. Thursday 21 November at 10am, the m25fev activists and TPMN (Touche Pas A Ma Nationalité) movement plan a joint protest march.

Anti-discrimination group TPMN and civil rights activists m25fev have a history of combined protests which began shortly after the groups were created in 2011. TPMN are fighting against discriminatory practices during registration of citizenship aimed at excluding and isolating members the country’s indigenous negro-Mauritanian community. Any citizen that cannot produce the new biometric ID card is unable to register to vote.

Related articles

• Mauritania police beat protesters urging poll boycott (africareview.com)
• Mauritania police beat protesters urging poll boycott (modernghana.com)
• Mauritania Holds Legislative Vote Boycotted by Opposition Party – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
• Mali, Mauritania to Hold Legislative Elections (voanews.com)
• Mauritanian police beat protesters urging poll boycott (nation.co.ke)
• Mauritania police crush protest in favour of election boycott (therebel.org)

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