SUICIDE CONTAGION

SUICIDE CONTAGION

An Egyptian man sets himself on fire in front of the Egyptian Parliament… but BEIRUTSPRING says his death will be in vain.

A Self-Immolation in Mauritania

After Tunisian Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in Tunisia, first an Egyptian and now a Mauritian have sought to emulate his example… if not the same results. Yacoub Ould Dahoud was forthy years old and from a well off family, unlike his twenty three year old unemployed Tunisian counterpart. Setting himself alight outside the presidential palace, his statement according to MOOR NEXT DOOR included the following: “Enough corruption! Enough injustice in Mauritania! For fifty years we have suffered from corruption and injustice.” His statement, quoted and paraphrased extensively here, includes jabs at the army, the political elite demanding “the ouster from power of the clique of spoilers from the army” and “a cancelation of all duties and taxes on rice, wheat, [cooking] oil, sugar, dairy and monitoring of the outrageous profits from them” and demanded that anti-slavery activists be released from jail. His final statement even included a proposal for a constitutional amendments that would ban “current or former” military officers from running or being elected president, among other things. His message implored France: ”respect the right of the Mauritanian people to self-determination”. Ould Dahoud addressed his pleas to President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz: “if you do not accept these demands, you will face the wrath of the People who will come out just like they came out against Ben Ali.” His cause was for ‘our children to live in a country with social justice, freedom and democracy.” It suggests that his actions have caused shock in Mauritius, if not quite revolution.