Mauritania : Free Biram Dah Abeid

Officially, Mauritania is the last country in the world which abolished slavery, it was in 1981. In 2007, it fully outlawed it but failed to end it in practice. For proof, there has been only one condemnation so far. A ridiculous number, even grotesque, in comparison to the amount of people allegedly enslaved over there : according to the Walk Free Foundation, there would be 155 600 in situation of slavery, out of 3,9 million inhabitants, i.e. 4% of the population (the highest prevalence in the world !). A man, Biram Dah Abeid, voiced against this ubuesque situation. He has been arrested in last November and his trial began on December 24. Whereas the verdict will be announced on January 15, he faces five years in jail.

Who is Biram Dah Abeid ?
Born in 1965 as a free man, Biram Dah Abeid is a Mauritanian politician. After having worked as a clerk between 1986 and 2001, he graduated in History and started his struggle against slavery, joining the association SOS Esclaves (SOS Slavery). In 2008, he decided to found his own movement: the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA-Mauritania). Deeply engaged to the cause, he quickly became an enemy in the eyes of the government. Due to his critics, he spent several months in jail (January 2010, six months in 2012 and currently).

Slaves are not restrained by chains in Mauritania but are part if a rigid socio-economic structure and division of labor steeped in racism"

Biram Dah Abeid

Abeid sees his abolitionist mission is to make slaves aware of the possibility of a life outside servitude. According to him, slaves are mostly isolated by illiteracy and poverty, and, as a consequence, they are tied to their masters not only by tradition but also by economic necessity. Moreover, religion would play a great part in the current situation. According to him, there is "a misinterpretation of Islam", that teaches that slavery is not illegal but governed by religious law. It's easy for us to condemn slavery because we know it's wrong, but that's so deeply anchored as something normal in thousands of Mauritanian spirits that it's really hard to make them accept that's immoral.

Biram Dah Abeid pays for being an opponent
Last year, Abeid was candidate to the presidential elections. With 8,7% of the voices, he came second, far behind Mohamed Ould abdel Aziz, who came to power through a coup in 2008 and was then elected in 2009. Thanks to his results, Abeid became first opponent of the regime. Maybe the worst position in an authoritarian country. On November 11, he took part in a meeting to protest against slavery. He and 8 other members of the IRA were arrested  and accused of "illegal meeting", "rebellion" and "encouragement to rebellion". The night before the opening of the trial, his lawyers have been  deprived of sleep and interrogated between more than five hours by the police.

Everybody can help Biram Dah Abeid. There are professionals working to free him, and we can help them by showing our support. There is a petition available on Walk Free website. It takes only 30 seconds to sign it but it could make a great difference. When I started to write my article, there were 60 204 signatures. At the time I write these lines, there are 60 758. HELP this amount to grow !

Free Mauritania's anti-slavery activists - Walk Free

Biram Dah Abeid is a leading anti-slavery activist in Mauritania, the country with the highest prevalence of slavery in the world. The organisation he founded, the Initiative for the Resurgence of ...

http://www.walkfree.org/mauritania/

Please SIGN and SHARE the petition, we must all show our support before the verdict.

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