The Power Of Words Surpasses That Of Bullets

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Yahya Ekhou

𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

Yahya Ekhou is a Mauritanian author, lawyer, secular humanist, and human rights activist living in exile in Germany. He holds a Bachelor of Laws from Cairo University. In 2017, he received the Distinguished Arab Youth Award from the Arab Youth Council and the League of Arab States in Cairo, Egypt. His writings have been published by platforms including the Richard Dawkins Foundation and Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik. Ekhou is the founder of Liberals Mauritania. For many years, he has advocated for freedom of thought and expression, minority rights, religious freedom, and secularism. His activism led to severe persecution in Mauritania, including a fatwa and the loss of his citizenship. In 2018, he was forced to leave his home country and has since lived in exile in Germany. Since then, Ekhou has continued his work through writing, public speaking, and participation in international conferences and human rights initiatives. In 2026, he received the 13th Johann-Philipp-Palm Award in recognition of his courageous and sustained commitment to freedom of expression and religious freedom. Ekhou is the author of Free People Cannot Be Tamed (Freie Menschen kann man nicht zähmen), published in German by Alibri Verlag in 2022, which reached the Amazon Germany bestseller list. His second book, Voices from the Silence (Stimmen aus der Stille), was published by Akono Verlag in 2025. His book Voices from the Silence was selected in 2025 for the literary series “Zwischen Zeilen. Eine Stunde Schönheit” (“Between the Lines: An Hour of Beauty”), a program associated with the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade that highlights works of outstanding literary and social significance. The selection recognized the book’s exploration of human rights, self-determination, and social justice. Through his books and activism, Yahya Ekhou continues to give a voice to people whose stories are often overlooked and to bring the realities of Mauritania and its people to a wider international audience.

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Is it fair not to show what we think?


In many cultures, people have to suffer from systems that are sold to them as facts that they believe they cannot find on their own. I see the fate of my family and tribe who think they are only good because they follow a very strict version of thoughts and whoever abandons it becomes a bad person.

  Leaving thoughts is like crossing an ocean, like swimming from one shore to another. I'm already on the high seas and I can't see the shore I left. Waves of hatred rise up against me and threaten to drown me, and I go through mortal fear because I cannot return to the prison from which I came. I know very well that my public criticism will cause people to leave and hate me.

The power of the tribe is like a big circle that surrounds people and is like a prison to their eyes and minds. The circle grows larger until it becomes a mist over their eyes and their minds and there is only silence. They thought that one day it would be the only way out for them! These are the same faces that I thought would fix everything with an illusion.

They left the mind to the measure of chance. What does the mind do to them while they do nothing for it? So I try to flee and escape from the teeth of Sharia and society. Because I can no longer live with the language and style of brutality, hatred, persecution, violence, ridicule and bullying. This is the language they teach every child.

My country has banned people from free choice. Our voices were silenced as sacrifices to customs, traditions and laws, poisonous to anyone who tried to approach them.


  In a country where the uniqueness of thought is forbidden. In a country where any revolutionary was arrested.

Rather, anyone who told the truth. You have only two choices: write your rights on paper and bury them, or express them and lose your job, nationality, and life.


Man is also born in a cocoon like a butterfly. However, the cocoon of man is different.

The cocoon of the butterfly is easy to remove, because its structure is thin. It does not become harder and harder to leave it. The cocoon of man has many layers, starting with the cocoon of faith, customs and traditions, and so on. These are difficult to overcome. Why? Because they are considered axioms and constants that must not be abandoned. You will pay for it with your life! These cocoons force us to spend our lives in trenches, afraid to reveal ourselves, our truth and our thoughts.

Articles






Books


FREIE MENSCHEN KANN MAN NICHT ZÄHMEN
(FREE PEOPLE CANNOT BE TAMED)



IN WEST AFRICAN MAURITANIA, AN "ISLAMIC REPUBLIC", THERE IS A STRICT TRIBAL AND CLASS SYSTEM. AT THE SAME TIME, THERE IS ONE OF THE STRICTEST APOSTASY AND BLASPHEMY LAWS IN THE WORLD. ANYONE WHO CRITICIZES RELIGION OR REBELS AGAINST THE POLITICAL SITUATION FACES IMPRISONMENT AND TORTURE; THOSE WHO RENOUNCE ISLAM FACE THE DEATH PENALTY. YAHYA EKHOU DESCRIBES HIS BREAK WITH TRADITIONAL THOUGHT PATTERNS, HIS STATUS AS A STATELESS HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST, BUT ALSO HIS HOPES FOR SOCIAL CHANGE AND A LIFE IN FREEDOM

THE BOOK WAS PUBLISHED IN GERMAN
















STIMMEN AUS DER STILLE





WHAT IS LIFE LIKE FOR WOMEN IN A COUNTRY CHARACTERIZED BY PATRIARCHAL STRUCTURES, RELIGIOUS CONTROL AND DEEPLY ROOTED TRADITIONS?

THIS BOOK BRINGS TOGETHER ATMOSPHERIC SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF MAURITANIAN WOMEN AND THE STORIES ARE ABOUT PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF DISCRIMINATION AND REPRESSION BUT ALSO ABOUT A THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE, CURIOSITY, PROTEST, LOVE, ESCAPE, AND CHANGE. AN IMPORTANT, RARE CONTEMPORARY TESTIMONY TO FEMALE SELF-ASSERTION IN A LARGELY ISOLATED STATE AND A CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL ATTENTION.










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Germany

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contact@yahyaekhou.com