44. The Commission was seized of it at its 13th session held in April 1993. Notification of it was sent to the accused State, asking it to forward its observations to the Secretariat. No response was received. 45. At the 15th session held in March 1994, it was decided to combine all the communications filed against Mauritania. 46. From that date, the procedure for the present communication became identical to that for the above-mentioned communication 54/91. 47. Communication 98/93 was submitted on 30 March 1993 by two NGOs, Rencontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (RADDHO, African Association for the Defence of Human Rights) and Union Interafricaine des Droits de l’Homme (UIDH, Inter-African Human Rights Union). The Commission was seized of them at its 13th session. 48. The Commission was seized of them at its 13th session. 49. On 12 April 1993, notification of it was sent to the accused State, asking it to address its observations to the Secretariat of the Commission. 50. At the 15th session held in March 1994, it was decided to combine all the communications filed against Mauritania. 51. From that date, the procedure for the present communication became identical to that for the above-mentioned communication 54/91. 52. At th2 22nd session held in Banjul from 2 – 11 November 1997, the representative of Mauritania pointed out that his government was in the process of considering the mission report of the Commission and expected to have its observations ready before the 23rd session. The Commission thus decided to defer consideration of all the communications filed against Mauritania to its following session, while bearing in mind that they had been pending before the Commission for quite a long time now. 53. At the 23rd session held in Banjul (The Gambia) from 20 – 29 April 1998, the Commission decided to combine it with the procedure ongoing for communications164/97 to 196/97 as well as n° 210/98. In addition, three notes verbales were addressed on 25 April, 9 and 10 July 1998 respectively to the Mauritanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to inquire about the government’s reaction. They have remained without reply to date. 54. Communications no. 164/97 – 196/97 allege that between September and December 1990, there was a wave of arrests in Mauritania directed at specific sectors of the population. Those arrested were mostly military men and public servants belonging to the Hal-Pulaar ethnic group and other ethnic groups from the South of the country. 9