A Nouakchott court on Sunday (16 January) sentenced Oumoulmoumnine Mint Bakar Vall to six months in prison for enslaving two girls, ages 10 and 14, in the city's Arafat neighbourhood. Last week, three human rights activists were handed down six month sentences for taking part in an unauthorised rally over the case. The verdict against the rights defenders, including Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA) head Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid, was based on charges of assembling and disturbing the public peace, as well as using violence against police officers.

Six anti-slavery activists are in prison in Mauritania in a case rights experts say points to the challenges of ensuring a 2007 law criminalising slavery is more than just words on paper. The six men, members of the Mauritanian anti-slavery group Initiative pour la résurgence du mouvement abolitioniste (IRA), are set to go on trial in the capital, Nouakchott, on 5 January after two postponements. The authorities reportedly said the IRA members attacked security forces; the activists said they were simply demonstrating against slavery.

Mauritanian newspapers this week devoted a large part of their analysis and comments to President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz's offer of dialogue to the opposition during the 50th anniversary of the country’s independence. In its Wednesday 1 December edition, 'Le Quotidien de Nouakchott' asked if the Coordination of Democratic Opposition (COD), which brings together nine political parties, has swallowed the precondition of the points included in the Dakar agreement. The Dakar agreement led to the holding of the 18 July, 2009 presidential election, which helped the country return to the rule of law after the 6 August, 2008 coup.