A/HRC/11/36/Add.2 page 14 but in fact forms part of the Moorish ethnic group, whose language and culture it has inherited, is situated between the two main groups. Also called “black Moors”, they were enslaved by the “white Moors” for generations. 49. In a number of meetings with the Special Rapporteur members of the black Mauritanian communities expressed great frustration at their lack of representation in political circles, the military and police and security forces, business and the media. They provided many examples of this inviolability: the small number of black Mauritanian senior officials in the civil service, at most four ministers or five prefects in any Government since independence; the lack of black Mauritanian women ambassadors and ministers, despite the recent appointment of three women ministers; the lack of black Mauritanian police or military commanders; the lack of private corporations or enterprises led by black Mauritanians, in particular in the banking and commercial sectors, and their low level of representation in the media, both in terms of visibility in audio-visual programmes and as regards employment in journalism, especially at the management level. This underrepresentation, which is reflected in the lack of ethnic data in census information, is accentuated by Arab-Berber officials who, in contacts with the rest of the world, depict Mauritania as an Arab country and do not mention its African roots. 50. Numerous other concerns were expressed about the existence of a language policy, a legacy of the past, which gives priority to Arabic and excludes the black Mauritanian languages. Evidence of that discriminatory policy is particularly clear in the following structures: the education system, where Arabic is entrenched as the main language, in particular at the university level, which has the direct effect of excluding black Mauritanians from positions of responsibility; the judicial system, where Arabic is the only working language, which thus precludes members of those communities educated in French from obtaining posts and prevents all who do not speak Arabic and cannot afford an interpreter from obtaining access to justice; and the media, in particular television, where programmes in Pular, Soninke or Wolof receive little air time. 51. During his visit to the deprived El-Mina neighbourhood in Nouakchott, the Special Rapporteur met with women from the Pular and Soninke communities, who described their social marginalization, leading in particular to difficulties in access to decent housing; lack of drinking water and electricity; problems of access to school for their children; and obstacles caused by their poor command of Arabic. That visit highlighted for the Special Rapporteur the overlap between the distribution of socio-economic marginalization and that of ethnic communities; he was told that certain ethnic communities were increasingly being squeezed into specific areas of the capital, and that the black Mauritanian population in particular was increasingly concentrated in the most disadvantaged areas. 52. The Harratin also claimed to be the victims of discrimination not only because of the colour of their skin but also because of the profound impact of slavery on attitudes and behaviours, as manifested by continued discrimination against those who were slaves in the past and their descendants. That discrimination made itself felt in many ways, but particularly in the wholesale exclusion of the Harratin from high-level positions in such political institutions as the High Constitutional Council, the High Islamic Council, the High Council of the Judiciary and the National Chamber of Commerce, their relegation to the lower ranks in the army, gendarmerie, national guard and police, and their poor representation on national television and radio.