Christians in Mauritania Face Threats After Protests Turns Violent

In southern Mauritania’s town of Sélibaby, Christians are gripped by fear following a violent protest on April 7, in which demonstrators, reportedly incited by Muslim leaders, desecrated the grave of a Christian man, exhumed his body, and dragged it through the streets before reburying it miles away.

Authorities had approved the protest, which advocacy group Middle East Concern (MEC) said was organized by Muslims opposed to the presence of Christians in the area.

“Christians in Sélibaby have grave concerns for their safety and lives as the incitement of hate against them by prominent religious and community leaders continues,” a MEC press statement read.

According to MEC, an Islamist mob stormed a cemetery, broke the tombstone of a deceased Christian, exhumed the body, and dragged it through the streets before transporting it to a distant village for reburial.

“Tensions eased by evening, but social media posts describing Christians as infidels and apostates, urging ‘action’ against them, intensified the following day,” MEC stated. “They called for a total ostracism of Christians. Some of the leaders have been warned by their clans and relatives, not to contact them. The situation remains volatile.”

The day after the demonstration, authorities fired local security leaders after an investigation. However, rights advocates say the move is not enough. Human rights defender Cheikh Mkhaitir criticized the government’s handling of the situation.

“He is reburied 30 kilometers from the city, far from a normal cemetery,” Mkhaitir said, according to Jubilee Campaign. “Mauritania is a country that is very dangerous for non-Muslims, even for the deceased.”

Mkhaitir, who was once sentenced to death for “apostasy” in 2014 and later released due to international pressure, emphasized the need for global accountability.

“The countries that still practice laws of apostasy and blasphemy in spite of the U.N. conventions that they signed would not continue to violate the conventions unless they were sure that all those agreements and conventions are on paper only,” he said. “And, they will continue to be on paper only, and people will continue to suffer in prisons and even the gallows, unless some real mechanism pushes these countries to adhere to the conventions they have signed, irrespective of the country’s status in international economics.”

Jubilee Campaign confirmed the spread of disturbing videos of the desecration on social media and on CRIDEM, Mauritania’s primary French-language news portal. The footage showed several perpetrators dragging the body while a crowd filmed the act.

According to Jubilee Campaign, Mauritania still has the death penalty for apostasy and blasphemy, though a moratorium is in place. “It has not stopped them from sentencing Cheikh to death in 2014 and continues to use the law to threaten Christian converts and other non-Muslims with silence and eradication,” the group said.

“Mauritania’s repeated cosmetic adjustments after pressure are evidence that the country desires acceptance on the world stage.”

Despite international trade partnerships and recent meetings with NATO on security cooperation, Jubilee Campaign says these diplomatic moves are not enough.

“The recent action in Sélibaby is a pressing example that piecemeal solutions are not enough,” the organization stated. “The death penalty for apostasy and blasphemy needs to be repealed completely for the recognition of the rights and protection of Christians, non-Muslims and all the citizens of Mauritania. Otherwise, we will return to another Sélibaby, another youth robbed of six years of his life and even an extrajudicial execution.

Temporary security and trade deals are not worth the suffering of generations.”

Mauritania’s laws are a blend of French civil code and Islamic sharia law. The 2018 amendment to Article 306 of its penal code states: “Any Muslim who explicitly apostatizes from Islam, or who says or does something that would require or include that, or who renounces what he knows to be required by the religion, shall be imprisoned for three days, during which time he will be asked to repent. If he does not repent, he will be sentenced to death for blasphemy, and his property will be transferred to the treasury of the Muslims.”

The U.S. State Department’s 2022 religious freedom report noted public calls for stronger enforcement of sharia law and highlighted severe restrictions on non-Islamic religious practices.

“The law prohibits apostasy and blasphemy,” the report states. “The criminal code mandates a death sentence for any Muslim convicted of apostasy or blasphemy, but the government has never applied capital punishment for apostasy or blasphemy.”

Faith-based NGOs are barred from proselytizing or promoting any religion other than Islam, and religious gatherings—even in private homes—require prior government approval.

“Authorized churches were able to conduct services within their premises but could not proselytize,” the report adds. “An unofficial government requirement restricted non-Islamic worship to the few recognized Christian churches.”

In late 2023, a video of a baptism in Sélibaby sparked outrage among Muslims, leading to the arrest of up to 18 Christians and their family members. By December 18, they had been released.

Open Doors ranked Mauritania 23rd on its 2025 World Watch List of countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.