Mauritanian security forces on Wednesday arrested Birane Wane, the coordinator of the Negro- Mauritanian movement calling itself "Don't Touch My Nationality," a security source told Xinhua on Thursday.

According to another source from the association, Wane was arrested in Nouakchott after the movement's protest march toward the office of the president, which was however dispersed by the police.

The "Don't Touch My Nationality" movement was created following the launch of the 2011 population census by the Mauritanian authorities which had drafted a document that was considered by the founders of the movement as "discriminatory against the black Mauritanians."

This situation led to numerous protests, especially in the towns of Kaedi and Mgahama, during which a protester was killed by a stray bullet when angry protesters tried to confront security officers in Maghama.

The Mauritanian authorities then proceeded to carry out extensive explanations for the objectives of the contested census and even released all the arrested protesters.

The "Don't Touch My Nationality" movement then transformed itself into a human rights body to complain about all the human rights violations that were committed against the Negro Mauritanians especially during the regime of ex-president Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya.

The current Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has on several occasions expressed his determination to address all the historical injustices that were committed against black Mauritanians in the past.