UN Authority Figures

UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice: Mauritania

Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir, a Mauritanian blogger, was charged with apostasy and sentenced to death for "defaming the Prophet Muhammad."
Source: Newsweek, December 19, 2016

Mission of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice: "The Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) is the United Nations body of Member States responsible for setting out global strategy to prevent crime and promote stable criminal justice systems. The 40-member UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice formulates international policies and recommends activities in the field of crime control...The Commission offers nations a forum for exchanging expertise and information on matters of crime prevention and criminal justice and to determine strategies and priorities for combating crime at the global level....Priority areas mandated by the [Economic and Social] Council when it established the Commission in 1992 are: international action to combat national and transnational crime...and improving the efficiency and fairness of criminal justice administration systems." (Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice website)

Term of office: 2018-2020

Mauritania's Record on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice:
"The chief human rights problems were use of torture by law enforcements officers; arbitrary arrests; holding individuals in lengthy pretrial and incommunicado detention; harsh, overcrowded, and dangerous prison conditions; ... Other human rights problems included... inadequate and selective arbitrary enforcement of laws, including labor laws... [N]ongovernmental organizations (NGOs) reported security and law enforcement officials tortured their members. Methods of abuse reportedly included beatings, stripping of clothing, and denial of food. There were credible reports of torture, beatings, and abuse in police detention centers and several prisons throughout the country, and in gendarmerie and military facilities. Defendants reported that police took them to the beach, partially buried them, and subjected to mock executions. Other defendants testified in court they were beaten, or tied to chairs for days at a time... Prison conditions were harsh and life threatening... The constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, but authorities did not observe these prohibitions. In some cases, authorities arbitrarily arrested and detained protesters, human rights activists, and journalists... The executive branch continued to exercise significant influence over the judiciary through its ability to appoint and remove judges. Observers often perceived many judges to be corrupt and unskilled... Sharia is, in part, the basis for law and court procedures. Courts did not treat women equally with men in all cases."
(U.S. State Department's Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2016, Mauritania)