In November 2017, the government adopted a bill to tighten the punishment of apostasy and blasphemy so that the death penalty could be imposed on the perpetrators without taking into account the possibility of repentance.
The Mauritanian president has yet to sign the law and no official clarification has been issued.
"The African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights is taking the opportunity of its current session in Mauritania to urge the highest authorities to review this law," African Commission Chairperson Suyota Mayega said after a meeting on Wednesday evening in Nouakchott.
"This review should be carried out in line with the directives and the work of the African Commission's Working Group on the Death Penalty and extrajudicial and collective executions in Africa," she added.
The AU Commission calls for the abolition of the death penalty, but its decisions are not binding.
Mauritania has tightened the punishment of apostasy in the midst of popular reactions to ease the sentence against Mauritanian blogger Mohamed Ould Mekhteir, who has been sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
He was initially convicted of apostasy for an article on the Internet that was considered blasphemous against the Prophet Muhammad, but later expressed remorse and repentance. On December 24, 2014, he was sentenced to death by the Nouadhibou Court.
The announcement of a reduction in his sentence following his repentance led to protests. The new law was adopted by the government amidst the protests, and Mauritania has not carried out the death penalty since 1987