Slavery in the Sahel Lantos Human Rights Commission/UNPO Briefing

The Unrepresented Peoples’ Organization (UNPO) worked with the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. Congress to organize a briefing on Slavery in the Sahel.

This event on July 24, 2018 featured Alice Bullard, human rights attorney in Washington DC, Biram Dah Abeid, president of IRA – Mauritanie, Maurice Middleberg, Executive Director of Free […]

Forced to Leave Mauritania: Two French Human Rights Researchers

Two French human rights researchers — a journalist and a human rights advocate — were expelled from Mauritania on May 2, 2017. Marie Foray and Tiphanie Gosse had been invited to Mauritania by the Association Mauritanienne pour les Droits de l’Homme (AMDH). Fatimata M’Baye, the President of AMDH, expressed her surprise and embarrassment regarding the […]

Time’s 100 Most Influential: Award to Biram Dah Abeid

IRA – USA is very honored to announce that Biram Dah Abeid is among Time Magazine’s “100 most influential” people in the world today.

Anti-Slavery International’s president, Aidan McQuade, writes that Biram “is an inspiration to thousands who continue to resist slavery in Mauritania and beyond.”

IRA – USA was established at the request of […]

Imprisoned IRA Members as of July 14th

The current list of IRA members arrested subsequent to June 29th is:

1-Diop Amamadou Tdjane

2-Balla Touré

3-Hamady lehbouss

4-Ahmed Amarvall

5- Khattry M’Bareck

6-Mohamed Daty

7-Jemal Bléyile

8-Ousmane Anne

9-Ousmane Lô

10-Abdallahi Matallah Seck

11-Moussa Biram

12-Mohamed Zarouhoullah

13- Abdallahi Abou Diop 14 Ahmed Hamdy

Diop Speaks from Prison: Police Beat Many Of Us

Amadou Tidjane Diop spoke with IRA USA today from his prison cell in Dar Na-im prison, Nouakchott. Dar Na-im is the general prison for violent offenders. He reports that he was not beaten, but many among the IRA prisoners suffered immensely from repeated beatings by the police.

The IRA prisoners were brought to court in […]

More Arrests: Update Saturday 9th July 2016

Notice received this morning from Nouakchott:

Je vous informe que la police ils ont arrêté hier,Mohamed Daty et aujourd’hui,il sont arrêté,Ousmane Lo,Ousmane Sy,Abdellahi Diop, bien a vous …

translated: I inform you that yesterday the police arrested Mohamed Daty and that today they arrested Ousmane Lo, Ousmane Sy, and Abdellahi Diop.

The report of the […]

UPDATED July 9th: Hospitalization of Diop and Matala

UPDATED JULY 9th: [this earlier report is not corroborated by one recent source that insists Diop has not been injured. We have not be able to confirm this recent update nor the initial report. We remain without any direct news of the IRA detained. All of the IRA members arrested are being held in secret […]

Mass Arrests in Nouakchott

Here is a sub-divided list of people arrested since the unrest at Gazra Bouamatou (that incident was linked to the evictions of squatters from their homesteads. Such evictions happen because someone else (normally an Arab-Berber businessman) gains title to the land and then plans to develop it, so evicts the squatters).

These arrests are retribution […]

URGENT: Awards in WashDC and Mass Arrests in Nouakchott

URGENT Press Announcement

Washington DC July 1, 2016

update on July 3rd: If you would like to support IRA please consider donating via paypal.

Donations to IRA -USA are tax deductible.

Biram Dah Abeid received the Hero Award from United States Secretary of State John Kerry on June 30th at the U.S. State Department in […]

Slavery Opponents’ Final Appeal

IRA Mauritanie has announced that the Lawyers Collective for the Defense of Biram Dah Abeid, Brahim Bilal Ramdane and Djiby Sow have filed the final appeal for unjust imprisonment. January 16, 2015, Mr. Abeid, Ramdane and Sow were sentenced to two years imprisonment and five years deprivation of basic civil rights. The men were convicted […]

IRA Wins Tulip Human Rights Prize

We are extremely proud to announce that IRA – Mauritanie, our partner organization in the struggle against slavery, racism and gender oppression, won the Human Rights Tulip from the Dutch government.

The President of IRA, Biram Dah Abeid, is still in prison for his anti-slavery work, so Abidine Merzough accepted the award in his […]

Supreme Court Appeal in Mauritania: Effort to Up-End Two Year Prison Term

The lawyers’ collective for the defense of Biram Dah Abeid, Djiby Sow and Brahim Bilal Ramdhane today announced in a press conference that they would appeal the recent ruling that upheld the two year prison sentence for these three men.

These anti-slavery activists were sentenced for resisting public order in an anti-slavery demonstration on November […]