Rakiya omaar biography of christopher

MAURITANIA is a country that most people, even within Africa, know little about. Nothing else could explain why, 10 years after the ``last'' emancipation, slavery for blacks in Mauritania remains a pernicious reality.

Mauritania joins the descendants of Arabs and Berbers from the north, known as beydanes, [white men] and the black ethnic communities living in the south. Relations between the two have always been tense. Since independence in 1960, economic and political power have remained firmly in the hands of beydanes.

Black slaves have been kept by beydane masters for centuries in the north. Slavery was first abolished in 1905 while Mauritania was a French protectorate, and again in the constitution adopted in 1961.

Rakiya omaar biography of christopher

But the life of slaves did not improve. A decree banning slavery was passed on July 5, 1980. But particularly in the north, servitude was abolished only on paper.

The 1980 abolition was a public-relations exercise prom