It is more than 20 years since slavery was officially abolished in Mauritania, but the practice lives on and is the focus of heated controversy among politicians and human rights groups.
In theory the west African state did away with slavery in 1981 and according to the government it is no more than a "bad memory". It says that there only remain "socio-economic consequences which targeted advancement programmes underway will be sufficient to eradicate" so that former slaves will be brought up "to the level" of their former masters.
Legislation passed in 2003 strengthened the ban on the practice by making illegal "trafficking in people", which was reclassified as a crime from being a simple misdemeanour. It said that the agreement of the slave did not make the practice admissible but fudged the word "slavery".
Opposition parties and human rights groups have said the law is "inappropriate" as it "takes the problem out of its socio-political context and obscures its consequences for the victims."
They say the government lacks political will and is in cahoots with the slave owners.
"Since this law was enacted we have seen the government looking favourably on private arrangements, thereby protecting criminals from prosecution whatever the loss and suffering experienced by the victim," according to Abdul Aziz Niang, vice-president de SOS-Slaves.
He says that "the practice of slavery is commonplace" and claims that his organisation, still seeking official recognition from the government, "has just freed a slave, a Mr Matalla, who worked for his masters in the far north of the country."
According to government spokesman Ahmed Ould Lefdal the claims are false and "slavery is just one of the topics that certain political activists, finding themselves in the doldrums, are waving around to try to win back political support."
Lefdal says that claims that slavery still exists are a clear falsification of the facts, put around by people who find it a "profitable business that brings in large sums of money."
Outsiders say that there has been serious progress, as a result both of campaigns in favour of former slaves by opposition politicians and human rights groups and of government action.
But much remains to be done to boost the social and economic status of former slaves, who are drawn both from the black African and Arab populations, in the face of entrenched opinions and caste systems, unenthusiastic about change.
"I gave my niece in marriage to a former slave and I am still under fire from my relatives and my (Wolof) community," said Niang.
"Freedom is the business of everyone - slaves, former and present slaveowners, society at large."
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