Which country was the last nation in the world to abolish slavery? Unbeknownst to most people, it was Mauritania in 1981. However, despite bowing to international pressure and allowing slaveholders to be prosecuted, Mauritania continues to struggle with slavery.
Biram Dah Abeid is Mauritania’s leading abolitionist. Through his organization the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement, he has fought for the freedom of countless men, women and children.
But today Mr. Abeid is imprisoned. On 11 November 2014, Biram Dah Abeid and eight of his colleagues from the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement were arrested following their participation in a caravan of protest organised by the IRA and other NGOs calling for the abolition of slavery in Mauritania.
Learn about Abeid’s work here:
- “Freedom Fighter: A slaving society and an abolitionist’s crusade"
- ”A Modern-Day Abolitionist on Fighting Slave Power“
- ”Slavery: still trapped“
- 2014 Geneva Summit: Biram Dah Abeid, Mauritanian Human Rights Activist
Sign this petition and help mount international pressure for his release.