Mauritanian Women Trafficked and Enslaved in Saudi Arabia

Reports of up to 500 Mauritanian women trafficked to Saudi Arabia have recently emerged in the Mauritanian press. Many of these women have been reduced to slavery. Aminetou Moctar, president of Women Heads of Family (Association Femmes Chef de Famille or AFCF), published an alert in early August, noting that Mauritanian officials had worked with […]

Law Threatens Mauritanian Anti-Slavery Activists

Maina Kiai urges Mauritania to change its current draft of the law to protect civil liberties and human rights in Mauritania. Source: UNOHCRH

Continuing its crackdown of civil rights and freedoms, the Mauritanian government has proposed a law to further restrict the Mauritanian human rights organizations. The proposed law will impose a stringent […]

Suffering in Prison: President of Kawtal Kidney Failure

Djiby Sow, president of Kawtal and the chief organizer of the Anti-Slavery Caravan in October and November 2014, is suffering from kidney disease while in prison in Nouakchott.

Mr. Sow was arrested on November 11, 2014, while leading the anti-slavery Caravan in the out-lying districts of Rosso, Mauritania. He was the only non-IRA member arrested. […]

17 Arrested in Thiambene

We have received multiple reports of seventeen arrests in a town near Rosso, Mauritania. Fourteen women and three men have been jailed because they asserted their property rights over land seized during the 1989 ethnic cleansing. These women and men were forced out of Mauritania during the violence of 1989. Repatriated to Mauritania in a […]

Kdeîd O Ely demands the Freedom of his wife and five children

Kdeîd O Ely in Nava Savra is demanding that his wife and five children be released from slavery. Fatimettou Mint M’Bareck and her five children (Cheikh, Sid’Amar, El Housseîn, Zave et Mamty) have been held captive by Cheîkh O Hanga, described as a wealthy businessman. For the past year Elfoutiyou – Kdeîd O Ely has […]

Anniversary of the Burning of Malikite Law Books

April 27th was the anniversary of the “Burning of the Books.” This is the day that Biram Dah Abeid publicly burned several Malikite legal texts because they contain legal interpretations that uphold and elaborate on slavery.

IRA Mauritanie held a commemoration of this bold action on the part of Biram. The public book burning lead […]

Saudi Grand Mosque Affair: IRA Members Sentenced to Jail Time

Brahim Jiddou, Yacoub Inalla, and Sabar Houssein were sentenced on March 19, 2015 for their protests in October of 2014 against a sermon by the imam of the Saudi Grand Mosque of Nouakchott.

Their arrest was precipitated by the Mufti’s attack ob Biram Dah Abeid, including calling for the murder of Biram and denouncing the […]

Amnesty International call for Liberation of Anti-Slavery Activists is supported by 33 human rights organizations

  Mauritania must immediately release jailed anti-slavery activists and human rights defenders

Joint Public Statement: AFR 38/001/2015

On 15 January 2015, the court of Rosso, a town in southern Mauritania, sentenced three anti-slavery activists and human rights defenders to two years in prison for belonging to and managing an unrecognised organisation, participation in an unauthorised […]

FREE BIRAM / LIBEREZ BIRAM

THE NEW SONG by SOLDIER HEMS is sure to be the anthem of the Mauritanian anti-slavery movement.

Biram Dah Abeid, Brahim Bilal Ramdhane and Djiby Sow were senteced, in Rosso on January 15, 2014, to two years in prison.

Directly after their sentencing, the three anti-slavery activists were transferred to the prison in Aleg. They […]

Biram Dah Abeid Denies Charges of Assault on Islam and on National Unity

Rosso, Mauritania:

Biram Dah Abeid in court today denied assaulting Islam and national unity. Biram was the only defendant to testify in the session that started at three in the afternoon and lasted until six. Mr. Abeid rejected all the charges against himself and his fellow members of IRA – Mauritanie, including charges of belonging […]

European Parliament Issues Resolution Condemning the Imprisonment of Biram and fellow Anti-Alavery Activists

The European Parliament issued the following resolution demanding the liberation of Biram Dah Abeid and his colleagues. The European counter-parts to IRA- Mauritanie along with UNPO and other non-profits worked together to generate this declaration. You can listen to the members of the EU parliament speak on this urgent resolution here (in French). Plenary sitting […]

L’Obs Publishes on Slavery in Mauritania, Amazing Photos

Après Foreign Policy et Jeune Afrique, l’Obs consacre son « Grands formats » à Biram Dans son édition n° 2613 du 4 au 10 décembre 2014, le grand hebdomadaire parisien, « L’Obs » (anciennement “Le Nouvel Observateur”), consacre six pages de sa rubrique « Grands formats » au président de l’Initiative pour la Résurgence du […]