DAKAR, Nov 7 (AFP) - All layers of Mauritanian society are guilty of perpetuating slavery, more than 20 years after it was officially abolished in the west African country, the head of a slaves' rights group said here Thursday. "I'm 57 years old and, since high school, I have been fighting those who treat me like a slave," SOS-Esclaves (SOS-Slaves) president Boubacar Ould Messaoud, a harratin or descendant of slaves, told a press conference in the Senegalese capital Dakar. Appealing for far-reaching changes in the mentality of Mauritanians, Ould Messaoud said: "I took 50 years to liberate myself, to cast off my complexes." He made his plea on the same day as international rights watchdog Amnesty International published a report in Dakar, condemning Mauritania for continuing to practise slavery. "Even though slavery was officially abolished in 1981 and is banned under the Mauritanian constitution and law, no concrete steps appear to have been taken to make the abolition a reality," the international rights monitor said. Slavery has "long constituted a social problem within all of Mauritania's ethnic communities: white Moors, who hold political power; black Moors or Haratins, generally considered to be descendants of slaves, and blacks from the south of the country," Amnesty said. The so-called white Moor community was singled out for criticism in the report not only "because human rights violations are more obvious there than in other groups," but also because it holds the reins of power and "could change the situation." Despite that, white Moors "maintain the discriminatory system in its present state, essentially to protect their own interests." But Ould Messaoud argues that the problem affects all of Mauritania's ethnic groups equally. "It is not a question of white superiority over blacks, it's a question of society," he said. El Joumaa Ould Maissara, a 52-year-old former slave, was also at Thursday's press conference in Dakar. He told the story, through Ould Messaoud, of how his mother, a slave, fled to Senegal when he was eight years old, leaving him to be raised in Mauritania by his "masters." "I worked night and day, herding animals and doing domestic chores. I never went to school, never learned French," he said. In 1970, when he could "no longer accept being a slave", he went to the capital Nouakchott and joined the army. Today, Ould Maissara considers himself a free man, but mentioned sadly that one of his cousins was "still with the masters." "She doesn't think life is possible without her masters, that leaving them would be a breach of divine law," said Ould Maissara. None of his cousin's six children were in school, he said. "When they grow up they will probably be slaves, like her." In its report, Amnesty expresses the hope that the persistent impact of slavery in Mauritania will be eradicated by developing education and through agrarian reforms. SOS Esclaves is not recognised by the Mauritanian government, despite the active campaigning undertaken by Ould Messaoud in Nouakchott, where he works as an architect. The government does not "want us to denounce the dark side of our country," said Ould Messaoud, defending his condemnation of slavery as not being an incitation to rebellion. "We don't want violence, because what violence gets on the one hand, it takes away on the other," he said. In its report, Amnesty recalled that Mauritanian President Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya "declared in 1997 that those who bring up the question of slavery are trying to tarnish the country's image." The report was compiled with "information gathered and published by other people and organisations, in Mauritania and abroad" after Nouakchott barred Amnesty's representatives from visiting to carry out research. In January this year, Nouakchott banned the Action for Change opposition party, led by Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, a haratin, accusing it of using racist and violent language. Ould Boulkheir contends that the only way for Mauritanians to put slavery behind them is to publicly debate the issue. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~