Mauritania: The Day Ould Taya was Toppled  · Global Voices
محمد عبدو

Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya ruled Mauritania for more than 20 years, following a military coup he initiated against his predecessor Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah, on December 12, 1984. His reign was one of the most controversial periods of Mauritania's history. It started as a military regime and then turned into a democratic system, in submission to international demand and pressure. His political opponents assert that democracy during his mandate was a mere joke and was marked by electoral fraud and political arrests.
A photo of Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya used from his Facebook Page.
Maaouya's term also witnessed horrible human rights violations, such as the execution of hundreds of black people between 1987 and 1989, in addition to the displacement of thousands of people which left the Mauritanian state with a heavy legacy. During the last years of his rule, he launched a severe campaign of political arrests considered as one of the largest and most diverse in the country's history and which eventually led to a political crisis which persisted until his ousting, in another military coup, on August 3, 2005. Ould Taya was toppled by his head of police force Ely Ould Mohamed Vall , who seized the opportunity of the president being out of the country for the funeral of the Saudi King Fahd Bin Abdel Aziz to carry out the operation, putting an end to longest reign in Mauritania's modern history.
Remembering Ould Taya's ousting, netizens shared some of their memories and impressions. Melika writes [ar]:
She continues:
Khadija adds:
February 25 Movement activist Tah Ould Habib recalls his joy after Ould Taya was toppled:
He adds:
And notes:
Baba Ould Deye also remembers that day very well:
The story goes on:
Then he associates the event with today's military regime:
Haymoudane also has something to say about that day:
He further explains:
And notes:
Abdel Fetah Habib recalls:
And continues: