Detained youths end hunger strike

Three Mauritanian youths on Sunday ended a four-day hunger strike on Sunday, Cheick Kamara, president of the Association mauritanienne des droits de l’homme (AMDH) told IRIN on Monday. The men, alleged members of a clandestine organisation, ended their strike after the government met their demands for family visits and better treatment, he said. The youths were arrested in early December amid a wave of political unrest. They have been accused of “threatening national security” and instigating an anti-government graffiti campaign, Kamara said. They had been part of a group of 20 who were arrested, he said, but the others were released. On Sunday, the three were transferred from Nouakchott to Kaedi, 400 km southeast of the capital. Before the transfer, they had been held under inhuman conditions, prompting them to launch a hunger strike on 13 December, Kamara said. AMDH and l’Union des forces democratiques-Ere Nouvelle (UFD-EN), a banned opposition party, have appealed to Mauritanians and the international community to pressure the government into releasing the youths.