ement of the government in the arrests and killings. In 1991 an open letter was sent to President Taya by 50 prominent Mauritanians, including former ministers, lawyers, doctors, and professors, denouncing "the magnitude of the repression that was brought down upon the blacks, civilian and military, in the last months of 1990”. It listed several hundred extrajudicial executions, atrocities, and disappearances. The Mauritanian Workers Union also called for an independent inquiry into the detentions.
Women played a role in denouncing the atrocities: in April 1991, more than 75 women – wives, sisters, nieces, and mothers of some of those presumed to have been killed in the detentions – signed a petition addressed to President Taya, calling on the government to break its silence on the issue and provide for families devastated by the killings.
Discrimination via Arabization
For many years, and particularly since 1986, Arabization has been used as a way to discriminate against Black Mauritanians. Indeed, "[Arabization] is the key to the dispossession of blacks in terms of political power, economic opportunities, and employment possibilities.”
Arabization has been put into practice via a policy of interference with blacks’ right of association, particularly by outlawing private and public gatherings. Although the law does not explicitly prohibit assembly of black people, the system of authorization created by the Government applies only to blacks, resulting in de facto prohibition.
Since January 1966, it has been compulsory for students in secondary school to study entirely in Literary Arabic. This provoked strikes among students, who were supported by civil servants and others. These strikes lead to the issuance of the Manifesto of Nineteen, which listed grievances against the Moors’ domination.
The process of making Literary Arabic the primary language of the country was formalized in
