Human rights activists arrested in Mauritania

Human rights groups and lawyers in Mauritania have criticised the detention of three human rights activists who appeared in a French television report on slavery.

The three include Cheikh Saad Bouh, the president of the Mauritanian Human Rights Association and Boubacar Messaoud, the head of a Mauritanian anti-slavery group, SOS Slavery.

They were detained at the weekend and accused of spreading false reports for political gain.

SOS Slavery said that the detentions could not hide the existence and the practice of slavery in Mauritania, despite it having been declared illegal more than ten years ago.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service