The Journalistic Solidarity Bloc Issues a Statement and Boycotts the Journalists’ Union Elections.”
Journalists’ Solidarity Initiative: Free Unions Are Built on Respect for the Law, Professional Dignity, and Journalists’ Freedom
(Statement)
At a pivotal moment in the history of journalistic union work in Mauritania, the judicial decision to suspend the electoral process of the Mauritanian Journalists’ Union has dealt a strong blow to attempts to tailor laws and regulations to serve specific individuals and influential groups. It also sends a clear message that the union is not private property nor a tool for political control, but rather a professional framework that should be based on legitimacy, transparency, and equal opportunity.
What is happening today within the union clearly reveals the scale of political and administrative interference aimed at directing the electoral process through the exploitation of official influence and the use of certain public media institutions — and even the union’s headquarters itself — as spaces for mobilization in favor of a list backed by the Minister of Communication. This situation undermines the independence of union work and damages the credibility of the state and its institutions.
Furthermore, the public statements made by some members of the executive office, openly declaring their support for one electoral side over another, constitute a clear violation of the duty of neutrality and confirm the existence of efforts to impose union leadership outside the free will of journalists.
The current stage requires the union president and members of the executive office to demonstrate courage and independence and to reject all forms of administrative and political pressure and intimidation. Free unions are not run by orders, nor can they be hijacked through influence; they are built on respect for the law, the dignity of the profession, and the freedom of journalists.
We place great hope in all serious, professional, and independent fellow journalists to continue solidarity and legal and professional struggle in defense of the union’s independence and journalists’ rights, and to confront all attempts at domination and hijacking. We firmly believe that the unity of journalists and their commitment to the rule of law is the only path toward building a free and strong union that represents الجميع and remains free from political or administrative tutelage.
We also renew our call for resorting to the judiciary, respecting the legal process, and creating the conditions for fair and transparent elections that truly reflect the will of the journalistic community, away from the dominance of centers of influence, and attempts to seize the union in service of narrow agendas.
Mohamed Abderahman Ould Abdallah
Member of the Mauritanian Journalists’ Union
Coordinator of the Journalists’ Solidarity Initiative
Nouakchott – May 12, 2026
