Denial of Fair Public Trial
The constitution and statutes of Mauritania provide for an independent judiciary, but it was not independent in practice in 2011. The executive branch continued to exercise significant influence over the judiciary through its ability to appoint and remove judges. The government generally respected court orders.
Poorly educated and trained judges were susceptible in 2011 to social, financial, and tribal pressures that limited judicial fairness. On 15 May, three juveniles received the death penalty, in violation of national legislation and ratified international conventions, for their role in the death of another minor. Observers suggested that the court was influenced by tribal and social factors. On 12 December, the sentences were reduced to 12 years in prison and a combined 1.2 million ouguiya (US$4,130) fine.
During 2011, international donors, including the International Organization for Migration and the World Bank, funded training for prosecutors and judges with the aim of increasing judicial professionalism.
Read more about this topic: Human Rights In Mauritania, Respect For The Integrity of The Person
Famous quotes containing the words denial of, denial, fair, public and/or trial:
“The line that I am urging as todays conventional wisdom is not a denial of consciousness. It is often called, with more reason, a repudiation of mind. It is indeed a repudiation of mind as a second substance, over and above body. It can be described less harshly as an identification of mind with some of the faculties, states, and activities of the body. Mental states and events are a special subclass of the states and events of the human or animal body.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)
“... thats what living happens to be ... the physiological denial of reverence and good manners and Christianity.... At your age ones quite old enough to know what the essence of life really is. Shamelessness, thats all; pure shamelessness.”
—Aldous Huxley (18941963)
“A good leg will fall, a straight back will stoop, a black beard will turn white, a fair face will wither, a full eye will wax hollow, but a good heart, Kate, is the sun and the moonor rather the sun and not the moon, for it shines bright and never changes, but keeps his course truly.”
—William Shakespeare (15641616)
“Typical of Iowa towns, whether they have 200 or 20,000 inhabitants, is the church supper, often utilized to raise money for paying off church debts. The older and more conservative members argue that the House of the Lord should not be made into a restaurant; nevertheless, all members contribute time and effort, and the products of their gardens and larders.”
—For the State of Iowa, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“A trial cannot be conducted by announcing the general culpability of a civilization. Only the actual deeds which, at least, stank in the nostrils of the entire world were brought to judgment.”
—Albert Camus (19131960)