iv. Meeting with the President of the National Assembly 26 March 2012 42. The delegation met with the President of the National Assembly, Honourable Messaoud ould Boulkheir at the premises of the National Assembly. After introducing the delegation, the Chairperson gave an overview of the African Charter, the establishment of the African Commission, the duties of Commissioners and the objectives of the Mission. She indicated that as part of the promotion mandate of the African Commission, the latter seeks to engage states in dialogue on the best ways to enhance the promotion and protection of human rights. In doing so, the African Commission engages not only government officials, but other stakeholders involved in the promotion and protection of human rights. The Chairperson emphasized the indispensable role the National Assembly as the promulgator of laws play in a country. She further indicated that the visit to the National Assembly was to understand the way the Mauritanian National Assembly as an institution participates in the promotion and protection of human rights. She especially wanted to know what the Assembly is doing to ensure that all vestiges of slavery are eradicated. 43. Honorable Boulkheir briefed the delegation on the work of the National Assembly. He stated that being the descendant of a slave, he is particularly implicated in human rights issues and that the fight against slavery was one of his main motivations to enter politics. According to him, noticeable progress has been made in the domain of human rights in Mauritania generally and in the fight against slavery in particular, with the adoption of the 2007 law criminalizing slavery which has led to a considerable change of mentalities on the issue. 44. On the practical application of the law criminalizing slavery, Hon. Boulkheir admitted that Mauritania as a country still has a long way to go, not least because of the official position of the Government on denying the existence of slavery. He stated however, that there have been open debates on the issue and many people who still practice slavery have been punished for it. He informed the delegation that the process of eradicating slavery from Mauritanian society has been a painfully slow process, confirmed that a lot of progress has been made continues to be made given that there is a strong political will to fight the practice. 45. Regarding the issue of compensation and access of victims to mechanisms of support former slaves, Hon. Boulkheir stated that these are not provided for in the anti-slavery law which, in his opinion, is understandable given that Mauritanian society is essentially nomadic and slave owners are poor and cannot have the means to compensate former slaves. The important point, he argued is 17 | P a g e