those relations, are then forced to have sexual relations with the same family members."

"This kind of relationship is going on over generations. There is a lot of sexual violence against these women and girls, I met individuals who are subjected to this. It's a situation that is slavery-like."

The comments by the Kenyan human rights veteran are among the most outspoken condemnation of events in Mauritania by the international community in recent years.

A predominantly Muslim former French colony on the western coast of the Sahara desert, Mauritania is seen by western powers as an important ally in the fight against terrorist groups such as al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which have been active in the country, crossing porous desert borders with neighbouring Mali.

Critics say Mauritania's geopolitical role has ledto human rights violations being overlooked in the nation, which is divided between Arab-Berber and black African ethnic groups, some of whom were traditionally enslaved. Enslavement was not made a criminal offence in Mauritania until 2007, after years of official denials that the practice still existed.

Anti-slavery groups claim they are regularly harassed by the authorities, and one organisation said that during Ruteere's visit to Kaédi, a town in southern Mauritania, it was obstructed from introducing victims of slavery to the UN delegation.

"We went to Kaédi to accompany the rapporteur and to introduce him to victims of slavery so that he could see for himself," said Balla Touré, spokesperson for the Initiative for the Resurgence of Abolitionism in Mauritania (IRA-Mauritania).

"The authorities blocked us from hotel rooms we had reserved