Imprisonment and Beatings of Anti-Slavery Activists in Mauritania

Oct. 16th 2018

IRA – USA stands in solidarity with Mauritanians beaten and imprisoned for their defense of human rights.

We support the renewed petition hosted by Freedom Now that calls for the release of Biram Dah Abeid from prison and for an end to the police harassment of human rights defenders.

 

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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 […]

Slave Owners Sentenced to Prison

On March 28th 2018, the special slavery court Nouadhibou, Mauritania sentenced father and son slave owners to 20 years in prison. In the same case, a woman slave owner received a 10 year year sentence. The men, Saleck Ould Amar and his son Hamoudi Ould Saleck, must also pay a fine of 500.000 MRU. […]

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 […]

U.S. Senator Cardin “It is no Secret Mauritania Has one of the Worst Human Rights Records”

This is a press release from U.S. Senator Ben Cardin:

United States Senate Committee on FOREIGN RELATIONS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 6, 2016

CONTACT Sean Bartlett 202-224-4651 Sue Walitsky 202-224-4524 Cardin Statement on Arrests of Anti-Slavery Activists in Mauritania

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, […]

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 […]

Success through Working Together

We are very happy that the IRA President, Biram Dah Abeid, and Vice – President Brahim Bilal Ramdhane, are finally freed from jail.

The number of individuals and organizations who worked together to protest the jailing of these leading anti-slavery activists is huge. IRA USA is very proud to be counted among the IRA community […]

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 […]

FAQs: Slavery in Mauritania

FAQs One: Why focus on Mauritania?

Answer: Mauritania was the last country in the world to abolish slavery and there was NO law providing for the PUNISHMENT of slave-owning before 2007. Even after the 2007 law, no slave owner has been punished as prescribed by this law. According to the Global Slavery Index, by Walk […]

Maison Des Esclaves / House of Hope / House of Refuge

 

The Maison des Esclaves / House of Hope video

M’Barka is a former slave who lives with Biram Dah Abeid’s family

 

Please Note: due to political conditions in Mauritania, notably the arrest of anti-slavery activists & heavy prison sentences meted out, Our Maison des Esclaves is now on hold indefinitely.

Our […]

PRISON for Biram and Brahim; 2 Year Sentence Upheld in Aleg

Today, August 20th 2015, the appeals court in Aleg upheld a two year prison sentence for the president of IRA, Biram Dah Abeid, for the Vice President, Brahim Bilal Ramdhane, and for the president of Kawtal, Djiby Sow. See Al-Jazeera report on this ruling. See IRA – Mauritanie press release on the court of appeals […]

TIER THREE AGAIN! Mauritania chastised in TIPs 2015

Mauritania fared poorly in the TIPs report (that’s the Trafficking in Persons Report) of 2015. This report issued each year by the U.S. Department of State has again classified Mauritania as a Tier 3 country. The “Tier 3” category is reserved for those countries who are not making any substantial progress toward complying with the […]