Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Mauritania. However, the country is considered "Abolitionist in Practice" due to having a moratorium on executions since 1987. Mauritania last executed in 1987.[1]
Mauritania has an unenforced death penalty for homosexuality; there have been no reported death sentences for homosexual acts.[2][3] Mauritania also has the death penalty for blasphemy. A law was passed in 2018 making capital punishment the mandatory sentence for blasphemy.[4]
Lawyers in the country and other experts disagree on whether federal law prescribes the death penalty for consensual homosexual sex or only for rape. In a recent Amnesty International report, the organization said it was not aware of any death sentences for homosexual acts.