On the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, observed on 2 November, the Mauritanian Journalists’ Union honours journalists who have lost their lives or suffered attacks because of their professional work around the world. It expresses solidarity with victims’ families and colleagues, and with all media professionals facing risks and challenges in their efforts to report the truth and serve societies’ right of access to information.
The Union stresses that observing this occasion should go beyond remembering the victims. It should be an opportunity to renew the commitment to protecting journalists throughout the world, combating impunity and strengthening the legal and professional safeguards that enable them to carry out their mission freely, independently and safely.
In our country, where the media landscape has seen a growing number of organisations and outlets in recent years, journalism still faces several challenges requiring a prompt and serious response. Foremost among them are countering the erosion of professional standards, ensuring journalists’ safety during field reporting, providing equal opportunities for public and private media to cover certain official activities, and respecting the independence of journalistic work.
The past period has seen cases in which journalists’ equipment and work tools were confiscated during field reporting. Such practices must be rejected and addressed through the law in a manner that protects journalists and safeguards their dignity and professional rights.
The Union also notes the continuing difficulties faced by independent media organisations in covering certain official activities. These raise questions about the criteria for access to reporting opportunities and the extent to which equality between independent and official media is respected in coverage of major events in the country. It stresses the need for clear and transparent procedures that guarantee non-discrimination between them.
The Union notes with regret that some journalists have been summoned to police stations for questioning about journalistic material they published, in some cases outside official working hours. This calls for clarification of the legal frameworks and procedures governing such summonses, respect for journalists’ rights, and safeguards to prevent requests for explanations from becoming a means of restricting freedom of journalistic work, influencing information sources or undermining the country’s image regarding freedoms.
The Union emphasises that holding journalists to account, where necessary, must take place within the law, with respect for the safeguards associated with freedom of expression and media work, and with a distinction between professional journalistic practice and acts that may constitute legal offences. The competent courts must remain the authority for resolving disputes, while ensuring that legal proceedings are expedited and journalists’ rights protected in cases where proceedings are warranted.
In keeping with its trade union and professional responsibilities, the Mauritanian Journalists’ Union calls on the public authorities and the relevant parties to:
1 . Protect journalists and their equipment during field reporting, establish clear arrangements that ensure media professionals’ safety and prevent assaults and the confiscation of their work tools, and return any equipment confiscated without a legal basis.
2 . Guarantee equal opportunities for media coverage and adopt transparent professional criteria that allow serious independent media organisations to access and cover major official activities in the country.
3 . Respect legal safeguards when summoning journalists, clarify the legal grounds for summonses concerning published material, take account of the nature and working hours of journalism, and ensure that security procedures are not used to exert pressure, intimidate or restrict freedom of expression.
4 . Strengthen legal safeguards for press freedom and continue developing the legislative and regulatory framework to guarantee media organisations’ independence, protect journalists against assaults and restrictions, and ensure respect for their right to practise their profession.
5 . Facilitate access to information and put into effect the legal and institutional safeguards that enable journalists to obtain official information and data, as an essential condition for professional and independent journalism and for guaranteeing citizens’ right to know.
6 . Strengthen dialogue and consultation with the Mauritanian Journalists’ Union and representatives of serious media organisations in the country, in order to counter the erosion of professional standards, establish measures to improve the environment for journalistic work and address the shortcomings that obstruct professional practice.
The Union stresses that protecting journalists does not mean granting them immunity from the law. It means ensuring that they are not subjected to assaults or restrictions for performing their professional duties, and enabling them to exercise their rights and responsibilities in an environment that respects the law, freedom of expression and media pluralism.
The Union also renews its firm commitment to consultation and coordination with the public authorities to resolve the problems and abuses faced by journalists, preserve the country’s image and safeguard the gains achieved. At the same time, it affirms its commitment to rigorously following up violations against journalists, defending their rights and dignity, and cooperating with national and international bodies concerned with press freedom and media professionals’ safety, in order to consolidate an independent, safe and responsible media environment.
Ending impunity is not merely a demand that concerns journalists. It is a safeguard for society’s right to know, a protection of freedom of expression and a reinforcement of the rule of law.
Nouakchott, 2 November 2026