# Killings of Black soldiers at Inal (27 November 1990)

URL: https://allhistories.com/mauritania/timeline/1990-killings-of-black-soldiers-at-inal
Location: Inal, Mauritania
Themes: battle

Wikipedia's article on Inal says that on the night of 27 November 1990, 28 Black soldiers who had been arrested in the preceding weeks were allegedly tortured, hanged and buried in a mass grave. The article cites a source that dates the execution to 28 November, the thirtieth anniversary of independence being the next day, and presents the deaths as allegations rather than established facts. The article says the killings were carried out as a 'celebratory act' for Independence Day, and that the Mauritanian government sanctioned similar acts as part of a wider campaign against Black Mauritanians from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. It names no individual perpetrators or units. A 1991 Amnesty International press release cited there mentions that 3,000 people were arrested. Wikipedia says many survivors in the area and in other affected communities still demand justice, and the killings became a symbol of what Mauritanians call the humanitarian liability. Wikipedia gives no official account of the events, and presents the number of dead as an allegation. The date is entered here as 27 November because the Wikipedia article uses it in its text. At this point in the timeline (1990), Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya (12 Dec 1984 – 3 Aug 2005) was head of state, chairing the Military Committee for National Salvation from 1984 to 1992 and serving as elected President afterwards until the coup of 3 August 2005.

## Why it matters
Inal gave a name and a date to the abuses of 1990-91 and became the focus of campaigns by survivors' groups for truth, recognition and justice.

Ruler at the Time: [Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya](https://allhistories.com/mauritania/rulers/maaouya-ould-sid-ahmed-taya-1984)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Inal, Mauritania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inal,_Mauritania)
- [Wikipedia — History of Mauritania](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Mauritania)