Mauritania

The Christian community in Mauritania is small and mainly composed of immigrant workers from other African countries and western expatriate. The Roman Catholic Church is the country’s only Christian body to be recognized by the government and is allowed to gather in a small number of places designated by the authorities.[i] There are however local Mauritanian Christians from Muslim backgrounds who are forced to keep their faith secret.

Apostasy from Islam is illegal (see legal section below). In November 2023, 15 Christian leaders were arrested by the authorities in the southern city of Sélibaby (bordering Senegal) following the posting online of a video showing a Christian baptism. They were released a few days later, however their arrest has stirred up tensions in the community with the families of those arrested reporting harassment since then.

In April 2022, a Mauritanian individual was detained in a town near the Senegalese border following his son’s arrest while bringing Bibles and Christian literature into the country. The father then took the charges on himself to protect his son. A local judge intended to charge the father with tartuffery (concealing atheism or apostasy from Islam while pretending to be a Muslim) which would have led to the death penalty if convicted^[2]. However, the case was later suspended by the Minister of Justice and both of them were released in July 2025.

In April 2025 in the town of Sélibaby, the local authorities allowed an anti-Christian mob to march to the cemetery to exhume the body of a recently deceased individual suspected of being a Christian. The body was then dragged through the streets and reburied in another village a few kilometres away. 

These events were followed by online abuse directed against Christians with a number of messages calling them “infidels” and “apostates” and even urging for “action” to be taken against such communities[3].

The relatively small number of media reports of Christian persecution in Mauritania, reflects the fact that this Christianity is illegal for Mauritanians with the church being underground. Mauritanian society remains very traditional and tribal identity is still strong, igniting a significant social pressure on people and, as the cases above illustrate, any suspicion of Mauritanians being Christians results in high levels of hostility.

Slavery as a persistent legacy

In 1981 Mauritania became the last country in the world to legally abolish slavery. However, it still hasn’t been fully eradicated and in 2023 an estimated 149,000 people were still enslaved as domestic servants in the country according to the Global Slavery Index[4]. This reflects the fact that slavery was legitimised by the Maliki shari’a taught in madrassas. As such, the continuing existence of slavery illustrates the extent to which Mauritania remains a traditional shari’a based society.

Mauritania is an ethnically diverse country, with strong tribal identities, dominated by Arab and Amazigh people. For centuries, they have enslaved black people known as “Black Moors” (in opposition to the Arabs and Amazigh being sometimes referred to as “White Moors”). Most of the former being part of an ethnic group called the Haratin that make up for around 40% of the population (though they are not the only Black Moors group to be enslaved). This descent-based slavery system is deeply anchored in the Mauritanian society[5].

Under French colonial rule (1903-60), slavery was made illegal on paper, but never really enforced. This was due to French political and economic interests as the French authorities aimed to maintain good relations with the local slave owners while not interfering too much in local traditions.

Slavery became more of a political matter in 1974 when the emancipation movement El Hor was founded by the Haratin. It was strongly repressed by the authorities over the following years with many anti-slavery activists convicted.

Although the abolition of slavery was declared in 1981, this step remained symbolic for a long time as it lacked practical application. Following the broadcasting of a BBC film on slavery in Mauritania in 1982, the matter gained international attention and brought the first envoys from the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities to the country who produced a report. The 1980s and 1990s saw slavery becoming more and more central to Mauritanian politics.

Since 2007 slavery has been a criminal offence in Mauritania, and a further law was passed in 2015.However its enforcement remains limited, and the issue persists because of its legitimisation by shari’a. Two slave owners were jailed in 2018[6] and being sentenced to 10 and 20 years respectively, however such convictions remain rare.

In May 2022, Tomoya Obokota a UN envoy on Human Rights visited Mauritania and noted that progress was being made by the authorities, but also called on the authorities to implement more efficient anti-slavery measures and legislations[7].

“Chattel slavery persists in Mauritania, despite denial of the practice in some quarters,”

“The continued existence of slavery and other slavery-like practices in Mauritania regrettably demonstrates that relevant laws are not enforced in practice and that a social transformation and a change in the mindset of the country’s leaders is needed in order to fully recognize and address slavery instead of denying its existence”.

Describing how slavery still exists today in Mauritania, Obokota said:

 “Enslaved persons, particularly women and children, are subject to violence and abuse, including sexual violence, and are treated as property. Caste-based slavery is also an issue, with persons from repressed castes who refute their slave status facing violent reprisals and denial of access to basic services by dominant castes. Child labour remains a concern, particularly the practice of forced begging, and forced labour practices are common in Mauritania’s informal sector, impacting migrants as well as Mauritanian nationals.”

Legal situation   

The Mauritanian constitution states that Islam is the religion of the people and the state (Art 5), and the sole source of law[8]. The President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania must be a Muslim, and he takes an oath before Allah on entering office.

The President appoints a High Council for Fatwa and Informal Appeal that is responsible for issuing fatwas, i.e. religious legal opinions, in accordance with the teachings of the Maliki school of shari’a, which predominates in the country and more generally in West Africa. 

Though freedom of expression, opinion, assembly and association are theoretically guaranteed according to Article 10 of the constitution[9], this does not extend to beliefs or worship. The Mauritanian legal codes assume that all Mauritanians are Muslim As such, it provides little legal basis for Christian communities to seek defend their rights.

Article 1 of the Mauritanian Penal Code specifies three categories of crimes:

a)      hudud offences i.e. those for which a mandatory punishment is explicitly set out in the Qur’an or Hadith.

b)     crimes punishable by Diyya (a term used in Islamic jurisprudence for the blood money), i.e. financial compensation paid by the author of the homicide (or his family) to the family of the victim).

c)     crimes punishable by correctional penalties

Section IV of the Penal Code[10], entitled “Attacks against the customs of Islam” criminalises heresy, apostasy, atheism, refusal to pray and adultery and treats these as hudud offences

Article 306 effectively makes the refusal to pray proof of apostasy from Islam, stating:

“Any adult Muslim who refuses to pray while acknowledging the obligation of prayer will be invited to perform it until the time limit for the performance of the mandatory prayer in question has expired. If he persists in his refusal until the end of this period, he will be punished with death. If he does not recognise the obligation of prayer, he shall be punished for apostasy and his property confiscated for the benefit of the public treasury. He shall not be entitled to the funeral rites prescribed by Muslim custom.”

Until 2018 Article 306 had given gave the accused 3 days to repent before the death sentence was pronounced and required a prison term if he/she did so (it makes no distinction between men and women in that case, in line with the teaching of the Maliki school of shari’a). However, in 2018 it was revised to state that any Muslim found guilty of the crime of apostasy is to be sentenced to death in any case.[11]  Despite international callings not to promulgate this revised article, it was officially passed on May 28, 2018. The Mauritanian government defended this update by citing the constitution’s preamble, that Islam is the sole source of law, as well as Article 5 which makes Islam the religion of the people and the State. A Mauritanian minister called the original article “contrary to the Maliki doctrine, which is that of the State. The bill aims to correct this dysfunction”[12].

Article 306 is also used to prosecute cases of Islamic blasphemy and heresy although it does not specifically refer to them.

The Mauritanian law also imposes restrictions on the printing of so called “foreign publications” (i.e. every publication for which the publication declaration was made outside of Mauritania). Order No. 017 – 2006 on Press Freedom states that:

“The circulation, distribution or sale on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania of foreign newspapers or periodicals, regardless of the language in which they are printed and regardless of where they are printed, may be prohibited by order of the Minister of the Interior when they are likely to harm Islam or the credibility of the State, harm the general interest, or compromise public order and security”.

This effectively makes the importation of Bible or other Christian literature illegal.

Islamic education is part of the educational secondary program in local schools as part of the government’s programme to promote Islamic culture and counter religious extremism. It is, however, not a mandatory subject for graduation. When investing into education, the Mauritanian government often prioritises funding Islamic schools, including in rural areas.

Ideologies linked to persecution  

Classical Islam which is taught in madrassas, although most ordinary Muslims have only limited knowledge of it. This is largely based on the interpretations of the Qur’an agreed in medieval times and the shari’a derived from them. The Maliki school of shari’a (i.e. one of the four main schools of Sunni Islam) which is predominant in Northern and West Africa is followed and taught in Mauritania.

Jihadism: Jihadist groups such JNIM (Jamāʿat nuṣrat al-islām wal-muslimīn i.e. Support Group for Islam and Muslims) also known before 2017 as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI) as well as the Islamic State in the Sahel (IS Sahel) and other radicalized Tuareg groups operate in the region. Though it is mainly active in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, JNIM is the most powerful jihadist group in the Sahel and is reportedly present in Mauritania as its expansion strategy aims to reach all West Africa^[13].

Tribalism: Tribal identity is very strong in Mauritania (four main tribes compose the country), with Islam being a part of it. Tribal identity has also been linked to radicalization, as some jihadist groups seek to encourage a so called “religious fight” which links jihad with territorial and political claims tied to tribal interests.

Future Risk

As mentioned earlier, over the recent years the Mauritanian government strengthened its legislation in terms of apostasy and there have been some accusations of blasphemy that were taken to court, including the one of a young high school student who was accused of blasphemy in 2023 over an exam she submitted.[14]

The Sahel region has seen many jihadist insurrections over the past decade, with terrorist groups operating weekly attacks in neighbouring Mali and reportedly established presence in Mauritania. Although Mauritania has to date largely escaped this with no jihadist attack recorded since 2011, the risk for the expansion of armed extremism in the country cannot be ruled out. In January 2023, two suspected members of a jihadist group in Mali were arrested by Mauritanian police forces in a small town located near the Mauritania-Mali border ^[15].

Church History

The land that we call Mauritania today was first settled by Sub-Saharan peoples and by the Sanhajah Imazighen people (who are part of the larger Berber ethnic group). The region has been home to the Amazigh (which also belongs to the Berber). Although there were significant Christian communities among the Berber in the third century of the Christian era, it is not known if there were any in what is now Mauritania.[16] Around the 11^th century Almoravids, an Islamic reform movement spread a puritan form of Islam through the Sahara and North Africa. Though it seems likely that Christianity reached some trading cities at that time, there is to date no specific evidence that this actually happened.

The first Christian presence known in Mauritania happened in 1442 when Portuguese mariners conquered Cape Nouadhibou and founded the fort of Arguin a few years later. From there, they started trading gold, Arabic gum and slaves. This led to the further development of trade in the region, bringing Spanish, Dutch and French merchants to that coast [17].

The French extended their rule over much of the Saharan coast through treaties in the beginning of the 19th century, and Mauritania became part of French West Africa in 1904. French colonial interests and control remained mostly limited to the coast and the Saharan trade routes, and their presence in Mauritania was therefore rather focused on business than on spreading Christian faith.

After the country gained its independence from France in 1960, the Roman Catholic Church founded a diocese in Nouakchott in 1965.

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