Letter to President Bush

While I understand why you must encourage a constitutional process with regard to regime change, I also stand with millions of Mauritanians who are now witnessing the first signs of a civil, democratic society under the interim leadership of President Ely Ould Mohamed Vall. Since August, The Military Council


for Justice and Democracy (MCJD), with President Ould Mohamed Vall at the helm, has guided Mauritanians in a process that forms the kind of solid foundation every viable democracy rests upon—the government has facilitated the implementation of an independent press. The new leadership has done this while earning the respect of the African Union, the European Union, and the people of Mauritania.

In addition to paving the way for a free election to be held in nineteen months, the new regime has encouraged the type of uninhibited public dialogue that’s essential to any citizen-run government; more than twenty-two political parties—for the first time, with full access to the media—are now peacefully co-existing in a country that has experienced increasing orderliness since last August. Because the UN estimates that the impending election will cost 20 million, the need the money for debt cancellation at this pivotal juncture is critical. Hence, withdrawing your gracious offer for relief would impede the country’s considerable progress—and it would ultimately short-circuit Mauritania’s move toward a free and egalitarian society.

Under the former government of Colonel Ould Taya, the people of Mauritania survived a brand of totalitarian cruelty no human being should ever be subjected to. Taya—a man who seized power by force in 1984 and later stole the election through intimidation and fraud—imposed systematic human rights violations. His forces kidnapped and murdered members of the public opposed to his government, and his own family members were involved in trafficking Mauritanian children to the Persian Gulf. Taya’s regime was also involved in deporting and killing his fellow Mauritanians; to this day, thousands of Mauritanians live as refugees in neighboring African countries such as Mali and Senegal. Under the MCJD and President Ould Mohamed Vall’s leadership, these refugees have been granted the right to return to their homeland for the first time.

Debt cancellation is critical to the survival of the Mauritanian people. Mauritania is an exceptionally poor country, with an average income of approximately US $1 per day. Half of the 2.7 million of the country’s inhabitants are rural, and many are nomadic. The entire agricultural zone, which amounts to a narrow strip running east-west, was hit with a plague of locusts in 2005. The World Food Programme estimates that 60 percent of the population will suffer a shortage of food this year. That’s precisely why I’m urging you to return this nation to your list of countries in dire need of economic assistance.

As an advocate for Mauritania, here’s what I believe: The violation of any person’s basic human rights puts every citizen of every nation at risk. The honorable Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., once articulated that idea this way: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Thus, an investment in Mauritanian democracy is, by extension, an assurance of democracy’s survival around the world for generations to come.

Without equivocation, I assure you that debt cancellation will have a residual impact on the people of Mauritania and on the entire continent of Africa. Your approval for debt relief will not only enable Mauritania to meet its commitment to satisfy the Millennium Development Goals, but it will potentially make Mauritania a model for democracy.

I am committed to the foundational ideas of America’s mighty democracy—principles that inspired the unflinching Thomas Jefferson to pen a powerful document adopted by the 56 delegates he’d convened in 1776. The Declaration of Independence, which embodies philosopher John Locke’s ideas of inalienable rights for every human being, serves as the quintessential master template in building a democracy for Mauritania—one characterized by the principles that have made The United States of America great.

Sincerely,

Moctar Cheine
Spokesperson
Mauritanian Foundation for Democracy