The president is chief of state and is directly elected to up to two five-year terms. In June 2019, Mauritanians elected Ould Ghazouani of the Insaf (Equity) party—then known as the Union for the Republic—to succeed term-limited Ould Abdel Aziz. Ould Ghazouani won 52 percent of the vote in the first round, while antislavery activist Biram Dah Abeid won 19 percent and Mohamed Ould Boubacar of the Islamist party Tawassoul won 18 percent. The election represented Mauritania’s first-ever peaceful transfer of executive power, signaling a departure from a history of military coups.

The authorities dismissed opposition claims of electoral misconduct and fraud. Local and international observers noted irregularities but praised the poll’s peaceful conduct and found it generally satisfactory.

The prime minister is head of government and is appointed by the president. President Ould Ghazouani named Mohamed Ould Bilal, a longtime public official, premier in August 2020.

The 176-seat National Assembly is the country’s sole legislative body; the Senate was dissolved under constitutional reforms adopted in 2017. In January 2022, a law was adopted enlarging the body from 157 to 176 seats; 88 are elected in a proportional system, and the other 88 in a two-round majoritarian system.

Twenty-five parties participated in May 2023 National Assembly elections. Insaf, the governing party, won 107 seats in the two rounds. The largest opposition party, Tawassoul, won 11, and the Union for Democracy and Progress (UDP) party claimed 10. After the first round, the opposition alleged “massive fraud” and called for the election to be rerun in several areas; the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) denied the allegations.

In September 2023, Insaf and the opposition Rally of Democratic Forces (RFD) and Union of the Forces of Progress (UFP) parties signed a national unity agreement, aimed at opening dialogue ahead of presidential elections set for 2024.

The ruling party and the opposition agreed to a reform of the electoral system in September 2022, which included the expansion of the National Assembly and provisions for including youth and persons with disabilities on party lists, and for allowing Mauritanians living abroad to elect four representatives.

Several obstacles have hampered parties’ efforts to mobilize their bases. A 2018 decree commanded the government to dissolve all political parties unable to gain at least 1 percent of votes in two consecutive district elections. In March 2019, 76 parties were disbanded under the decree. Authorities have broken up political parties’ rallies.

The environment for opposition figures has improved under President Ould Ghazouani. The 2023 legislative elections changed the opposition landscape, with the new Hope Mauritania coalition of left-wing and human rights activists supplanting the traditional opposition.

While opposition candidates can attract significant popular support, most lack strong institutional bases. Some splinter factions that left Insaf have rejoined it as a result of active co-optation. Opposition parties have boycotted elections in the past, and more recently have struggled to consolidate support at the national level against the dominant ruling party.

The political choices of Mauritanians are greatly influenced by the military. Mauritania has either been under military rule or led by a military leader with little interruption since 1978, though elections in the late 2010s were generally considered credible and the military’s overt involvement in politics has recently lessened. President Ould Ghazouani is a former defense minister and general, though he was elected in a competitive and democratic poll.

The government of President Ould Ghazouani is more diverse than previous governments in Mauritania, with the prime minister and foreign minister belonging to the Haratin group, which has historically faced racial and caste-based discrimination. Obstacles to the integration of many segments of the population remain, however. Thousands of Afro-Mauritanians who were forced out of their villages in the Senegal River Valley by the military in the wake of the 1989 conflict have been allowed to return, but face difficulties when trying to enroll in the census and register to vote.

List and seat quotas for women, youth, and people with disabilities are in place for municipal, regional, and legislative elections. In the May 2023 legislative elections, women won 23 percent of the seats.

Score Change: The score improved from 0 to 1 because more Afro-Mauritanian and Haratin individuals have been appointed to high-ranking ministerial positions in recent years.

The executive dominates the legislative branch. The president has the power to dissolve the National Assembly, but lawmakers cannot impeach the president. The military still maintains significant influence on policymaking.

Corruption is widespread. Numerous laws address corruption, money laundering, and terrorist financing, but they are not effectively enforced. Public contracts are typically awarded in exchange for bribes or on the basis of patronage. Bribes are often necessary for ordinary government processes like obtaining licenses and permits.

While the Ould Ghazouani government has publicly expressed its desire to combat corruption, critics claimed it has used anticorruption efforts to target political opponents.

In 2021, former president Ould Abdel Aziz was charged with corruption, money laundering, and misappropriation of public funds. In December 2023, Ould Abdel Aziz was found guilty of money laundering and illicit enrichment and sentenced to five years in prison.

The government does not operate with transparency, particularly in granting mining and fishing licenses, land distribution, government contracts, and tax payments.

Mauritania has a vibrant media landscape, with several privately owned newspapers, television stations, and radio stations in operation. However, there are legal constraints on the media. A 2021 law imposed criminal penalties for undermining “the authority of the state and its symbols” and was denounced by the Union of Mauritanian Journalists as well as local and international civil society organizations. A 2017 law combatting incitement to hatred and discrimination has faced similar criticism.

Authorities at times blocked mobile internet service in 2023, hampering the free exchange of information. It did so in March after the escape of four prisoners accused of links to militant Islamist groups, and in May, during protests sparked by the death of an Afro-Mauritanian man, Oumar Diop, in police custody.

Mauritania is an Islamic republic. Non-Muslims cannot proselytize or become citizens, and those who convert from Islam to another religion lose their citizenship. However, non-Muslim communities do not face targeted persecution.

Though no one has been executed for apostasy, it is punishable by death. In July 2023, a 19-year-old was charged with blasphemy for writing an exam paper deemed insulting to the prophet Muhammad; she remained behind bars at year’s end.

Academic freedom is largely respected, though student activists sometimes face pressure from university administrators, including threats of expulsion and intimidation.

The increasing use of Arabic as the language of instruction in universities has hindered access to education for Afro-Mauritanians, who mainly speak Fula, Soninké, and Wolof. In July 2022, the government passed a law expanding the use of Arabic in primary schools and mandating classes on that language for speakers of other languages. The new law was met with protests by Afro-Mauritanian groups.

The 2021 law on national symbols prohibits “attacks on the authority of the state and the honor of the citizen,” including via personal communications. Individuals have faced reprisals for expressing views critical of the government on social media, including termination of employment from government agencies.

While the constitution guarantees freedom of assembly, organizers are required to obtain official consent for large gatherings, which is often denied. Government-sponsored protests often occur without incident while opposition and civil society demonstrations are often met with police repression. In May and June 2023, police cracked down violently on protests in Nouakchott and the southern city of Boghé that broke out following the death of Oumar Diop in police custody. In September, police violently dispersed sit-ins of anti-slavery and opposition activists.

Some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) encounter intimidation, violence, and repression in carrying out their activities. The Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement in Mauritania (IRA Mauritania), for example, had been denied permission to register as an NGO since its 2008 formation. However, an older anti-slavery organization, SOS-Esclaves, has been legally registered as an NGO since 2005.

In 2021, the parliament passed a new law to replace the Law of Associations of 1964, considerably easing the process to create and register an organization. IRA Mauritania was recognized as a human rights organization that year.

In February 2023, prominent Haratin rights activist Souvi Ould Cheine died of injuries suffered while in police custody. Eleven people, including senior police officials, were later charged in connection with his killing, which sparked protests in the capital.

Workers have the legal right to unionize, but unions require approval from the public prosecutor to operate and often face hostility from employers. The right to collective bargaining is not always respected, and the government sometimes pressures union members to withdraw their membership. The right to strike is limited by notice requirements and other onerous regulations, but strikes are frequent in certain sectors, notably education.

Mauritania’s judiciary lacks independence. The president has the power to unilaterally appoint many key judges, including three of the six judges on the Constitutional Court and the chair of the Supreme Court.

Due process rights are often not respected in practice. Suspects are frequently arrested without being informed of the charges against them. Lengthy pretrial detentions are common. Arbitrary arrests of opposition politicians, journalists, and human rights activists occur with some frequency.

There have been no terrorist attacks or active insurgencies on Mauritanian state territory since 2011. In March 2023, four people jailed for terrorism offenses escaped from a prison in Nouakchott. (Two had been convicted, while two were awaiting trial, a government official told media outlets.) Three were killed and the fourth was rearrested in a military operation a few days later. A man believed to be the orchestrator of the escape was arrested a few days later.

There were a number of reports of killings at the hands of police in 2023, including those of Cheine and Diop.

Torture and abuse occur in prisons and detention centers, and perpetrators are rarely held accountable. Prisons are overcrowded and lack basic sanitation.

Score Change: The score improved from 1 to 2 because terrorist and insurgent violence has remained relatively rare over the past decade.

Same-sex sexual activity is illegal in Mauritania and punishable by death for men, though this sentence has never been implemented. A proposed law that would heighten penalties for rape and sexual harassment has generated opposition among religious figures and conservative student movements.

People without government identity cards are not allowed to travel in some regions, which disproportionately affects Afro-Mauritanians. This has been exacerbated by pressure from European states to crack down on irregular migration, which has resulted in the detention of Afro-Mauritanians.

Legally guaranteed property rights are not always enforced in practice, as it can be difficult to get property disputes fairly adjudicated in court. Complex laws and an opaque bureaucracy present challenges to starting a business.

Many Afro-Mauritanians who left their homes in the Senegal River Valley in the wake of the 1989 conflict have been unable to regain ownership of their land since returning. Local authorities reportedly allow the dominant Bidhan ethnic group to appropriate land used by Haratin and Afro-Mauritanians. Residents of some southern villages have pushed back against what they consider unlawful expropriation of their land by the government and powerful investors.

Female genital mutilation is illegal, but the law is rarely enforced and the practice remains common, with up to 64 percent of women aged between 15 and 49 affected, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Domestic violence and rape remain problems, victims rarely seek legal redress, and convictions for these crimes are rare. A law that would heighten penalties for rape and sexual harassment has generated opposition from religious and conservative figures.

Slavery has historically affected Mauritania’s Haratin group, who make up 40 percent of the population. Despite 2015 amendments to the antislavery law, slavery and its aftereffects remain a challenge, with many former slaves unable to access adequate accommodation, health care, or education. In July 2023, the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery published a report noting Mauritania’s progress in “strengthening its legal and institutional framework to prevent and address slavery,” including the integration of civil society organizations into investigations of slavery claims and the creation of three courts responsible for prosecuting claims. It also noted ongoing areas of concern, such as the composition of the courts, the lack of compensation guarantees in the antislavery law, and a lack of awareness of the law and its remedies among victims.

Score Change: The score improved from 0 to 1 due to recent progress in antislavery efforts identified by a UN Special Rapporteur.