Dear Federal Interior Minister Dr. Schäuble,
Dear Minister President Platzeck,
Dear Lord Mayor Jakobs,
Lord Weidenfeld,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all please allow me to congratulate you on choosing the beautiful city of Potsdam as venue for this important demonstration of democracy and freedom of the press. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank Messrs. Jann Jakobs, Lord Weidenfeld and Dr. Khaled Hroub for their friendly invitation and to wish their work complete success.
The Movement of 3 August 2005 transformed my country, Mauretania. It happened within the context of a deep political crisis triggered by a system of purely formal pluralism and the hegemony of a state party. My country was suffering from a general climate of insecurity. There was little prospect of a political solution through dialogue or peaceful alternation.
Against this context the armed forces together with the security apparatus decided unanimously to reverse ‑ without bloodshed – what appeared to be suicidal situation.. They decided in favour of a political model for a new Mauretania with truly democratic institutions that would lay the foundations for sustained development. Within this framework the Military Council committed itself to create a system of justice and democracy that would allow politicians and civil society as a whole to express themselves freely during a transitional period lasting no longer than two years.
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Important measures at the social level were introduced aimed at improving living conditions, particularly among the youth and women. High amongst our priorities is better access to basic services, Reduction of poverty, unemployment and illiteracy.
The transition period also saw major progress towards freedom of information. Several new laws were adopted; the system of censorship which had been enforced since1991 was repealed on 3 August 2005.
As part of its programme towards transparency and freedom of information the government launched several new measures :
- to simplify the accreditation procedure of journalists
- to modernise the ministry of information
- to strengthen the autonomy of the Mauritanian Agency for Information, the Mauritanian Television, the Mauritanian Radio and the new press
During the transition political parties, associations and organs of the press were able to exercise their activities freely. Thus six new political parties were founded; in addition 120 NGOs and 30 new publications were approved.
As part of the transition process towards civil society two directives were introduced on 12 July 2006 that formed the basis for a National Commission for Human Rights. This National Commission was designed to become the national body of coordination to safeguard respect for human rights by the government as well as in the activities of non-governmental organisations. On 10 December, at the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 this Commission was created and has been active since 21 March 2007.
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Finally a law about censorship was passed which puts it solely under the control of the judiciary and removes it from the Interior ministry.
The Mauritanian Agency for Information, Mauritanian Television, Mauritanian Radio and the newspapers and magazines all experienced a true revolution during this period of transition. Mauritania now has genuinely free and responsible press organs that ensure a accurate and fair news coverage and which give equal access to candidates during elections.
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Finally I would like to stress that since 3 August no press organ has been banned and no journalist has been prosecuted for their work.
Moreover, any violations of the press laws are brought before judges, and are not handled by government bodies.
I thank you very much. |