RECOMMENDATIONS  FOR MAURITANIA:
Increase efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses— addressing all types of trafficking of adults—and to convict and punish offenders using the 2003 Law Against Trafficking in Persons and the 2007 anti-slavery law; take steps to hold government officials accountable for trafficking-related complicity, including efforts to interfere with criminal investigations; train law enforcement personnel, with an increased focus on measures to identify and refer to protective services trafficking victims from among vulnerable populations, and institute policies to standardize these procedures; provide support for, and access to, legal assistance for adult and child trafficking victims, including through directly submitting criminal claims on victims’ behalf through Tadamoun; amend Law 2007-048 to allow civil society organizations to file complaints on behalf of slaves; provide funding to civil society organizations providing direct services to victims, including former slaves; increase efforts to coordinate with NGOs to arrange protective services for trafficking victims; with input from civil society representatives, develop and implement a plan to provide economic resources—through monetary or property allotment—to empower members of traditional slave castes to live independently, and ensure these resources reach the targeted communities; and increase efforts to raise public awareness about trafficking, including traditional servitude.

PROSECUTION
The government made negligible anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. All forms of trafficking, except hereditary slavery, are prohibited by the 2003 Law Against Trafficking in Persons, which prescribes penalties of five to 10 years’ imprisonment for violations. These penalties are sufficiently stringent and exceed those prescribed for serious crimes, such as rape. Slavery, including hereditary slavery, is prohibited by Law 2007-048, enacted in September 2007; a 2013 law against slavery and torture broadens the 2007 law’s 10-year statute of limitations. The 2007 law defines slavery and prescribes a sufficiently stringent penalty of five to 10 years’ imprisonment for violations. Its effectiveness is impaired by a requirement that slaves file a legal complaint before prosecution can be pursued, as well as by barring NGOs from filing complaints on behalf of slaves—many of whom are illiterate. Although the National Agency to Fight against theVestiges of Slavery, Integration, and the Fight against Poverty, known as Tadamoun, has the authority to submit complaints on behalf of victims, it did not do so during the reporting period.
The government investigated one slavery case identified by an NGO, but did not prosecute or convict any traffickers during the reporting period. In the single investigation conducted, the government initially arrested an alleged slave master, but ultimately did not file charges under the 2007 anti-slavery law and released the slave master; it is unclear whether the government will bring the case to trial. NGOs reported referring approximately 4,000 cases of child labor to the police; however, none resulted in any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions for forced child labor.

The government did not provide any specific anti-trafficking training during the reporting period.The government did not report any investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government officials complicit in human trafficking offenses.
The government arrested, prosecuted, and convicted several anti- slavery activists during the reporting period, drawing international attention to the government’s attempts to suppress civil society representatives advocating against slavery and systematic discrimination in Mauritania. In November 2014, law enforcement arrested nine prominent anti-slavery activists and charged them for leading unregistered organizations, organizing an unauthorized rally, and resisting arrest; ultimately, the government convicted six of the activists.The government sentenced three activists to one year of prison and a fine of 40,000 ouguiya ($130); their prison term was ultimately suspended and they were released. However, the government sentenced the other three activists to two years’ imprisonment; at the close of the reporting period, the activists were serving their sentences while their cases were under appeal.

PROTECTION
The government maintained limited efforts to protect victims of human trafficking, including those exploited in traditional slavery. The Ministry of Social Affairs, Childhood, and the Family continued to operate five public centers for the protection and social integration of children and in November 2014, opened a sixth center in Nouakchott; 321 children in need received services from the centers, but it is unknown how many of these children may have been trafficking victims. The government allocated 35 million ouguiya ($115,000) to these facilities. These facilities provided only short-term protections and generally returned children to their families or the imams who facilitated their exploitation. NGOs continued to provide the majority of protection services to trafficking victims without financial or in-kind support from the government. One NGO identified and cared for 257 girls rescued from domestic servitude.
Lack of available long-term rehabilitative care in Mauritania made many victims vulnerable to re-trafficking.The absence of measures to identify trafficking victims among vulnerable populations may have led to victims being punished for acts committed as a result of being subjected to trafficking. For example, in 2014, 6,400 undocumented migrants were detained and deported without screening. In addition, officials often jailed women suspected of prostitution, some of whom may have been trafficking victims. Mauritania does not provide legal alternatives to the removal of foreign victims to countries where they may face hardship or retribution.

PREVENTION
The government sustained modest efforts to prevent human trafficking. In March 2014, the government adopted a national strategy made up of recommendations from the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery; however, implementation was limited. In October 2014, the government hosted two televised debates on slavery with government officials and anti-slavery activists; however, the panelists were predominantly government officials, and civil society members were underrepresented.The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, in collaboration with the National Union of Imams, hosted three symposia to raise awareness about what the government calls “the vestiges of slavery.”The government made no effort to reduce the demand

for forced labor or commercial sex acts. The government did not provide anti-trafficking training or guidance for its diplomatic personnel or peacekeeping troops deployed abroad; however, a foreign donor provided Mauritanian peacekeeping troops with anti-trafficking  training.