Start of protests on 18 March 2011. Following the example of
Mohamed Bouazizi, a
Tunisian fruit vendor who
set himself on fire the previous month to protest the
government of Tunisia, a middle-aged businessman named Yacoub Ould Dahoud burned himself in front of the Presidential Palace in
Nouakchott on January 17, 2011. He left behind a note explaining that injustice in Mauritania led him to commit
suicide in this way. Dahoud died on January 23 in the hospital. The coalition specifically called for protests on February 25 at the symbolic
Place d'Bloques in Nouakchott, a historically and symbolically important landmark where the first official buildings in the capital city were built in the 1950s and 1960s. This coalition and calls for protest, which would come to be known as the
February 25th Movement, began on February 25, 2011, when protesters across Mauritania assembled a list of seven core reforms that they demanded the government institute, touching on areas ranging from civil-military relations to combating slavery and decreasing corruption. Unlike previous protests, this movement transpired without the official participation of opposition political parties or labor unions. The reasons for the absence of this group are unclear and contested. Various political parties and unions declared that they refused to join what they considered protests with narrow social demands organized by inexperienced young people on Facebook and Twitter. On March 9, 2011, police in Nouakchott forcibly dispersed approximately 200 youths associated with the February 25th Movement gathered at a peaceful protest, severely beating a number of the demonstrators in the process and leaving at least one in a coma due to the severity of his injuries. Police also arrested 30 protestors who had been present at the demonstration for "further investigation." This was, however, one of the first instances since the start of the February 25th Movement that Mauritanian security forces used violence on a large scale to repress peaceful demonstrations.
Renewed Protests and Increased Repression Protestors again took to the streets after Friday prayers on March 12, 2011. This time, however, demonstrations that were intended to be peaceful devolved into violence as protestors threw stones at police and burned car tires. Security forces responded with tear gas and batons to disperse the demonstrators, arresting fourteen and severely beating four protestors in the process. Protestors also claimed that police officers were posing as journalists to capture video that was later analyzed to identify protest leaders and target them for future arrest. As a result, protestors prevented Mauritania TV from filming the protests out of fear that the footage would be used for this purpose and/or as political propaganda. Days later, 56 protesters were arrested in Nouakchott. Protesters gathered in
Inal in the country's north, as well as in Nouakchott, on 28 November to again rally against the census. At least one was wounded, and another was detained as security forces intervened to stop the protest in the capital city.
Student protests Students at the
Advanced Institute for Islamic Studies and Research (ISERI) began protesting on 14 December 2011. Police responded with force, firing
tear gas and frequently clashing with student groups. The unrest led to the closure of ISERI, but students continued to assemble. Several were detained on 16 January 2012, only to be released by police five days later in response to public anger. On 25 January, students organized a "Day of Anger" to protest ISERI's closure. Protests flare up again on July 19, when thousands of Mauritanians protested in the capital late Wednesday, calling for the departure of President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, whom they accuse of despotism and mismanagement. Protestors chanted "Aziz get out" and "we are sick of the tyrant" as they marched through the capital.
Outcomes Despite continued protests and increasing outrage at the use of violent repression tactics on the part of the Aziz regime, Aziz remained in office and made few concessions to the protestors. Scholars and analysts differ on the reasons behind this failure to overthrow or extract significant concessions from the regime, but possible explanations include internal divisions within the protest movement owing to various factions — each with different motivations, goals, and preferred tactics — failing to collaborate and coordinate action effectively, co-option of the movement by Aziz's government (e.g. Aziz's ruling party forming a youth committee in the legislature), and effective repression of protests and stifling of dissent by security forces. == Legacy ==