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Detained youths end hunger strike

[Cote d'Ivoire] Wassa-Wassa police man and new forces rebel in Bouna. IRIN
Un nombre indéterminé de combattants des forces rebelles devront être désarmés
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.

This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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