"Freedom House calls on the Mauritanian authorities to release Biram Dah Abeid and all other activists who were arrested during their peaceful anti-slavery advocacy," said Jenai Cox, program manager for Africa programs at Freedom House.
This article was originally published on freedomhouse.org on 11 November 2014.
In response to the reported attacks on Mauritanian anti-slavery activists on November 11 and the recent arrests of nine anti-slavery activists, including Biram Dah Abeid, president of anti-slavery organization Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement in Mauritania (IRA), Freedom House issued the following statement:
“Freedom House calls on the Mauritanian authorities to release Biram Dah Abeid and all other activists who were arrested during their peaceful anti-slavery advocacy,” said Jenai Cox, program manager for Africa programs at Freedom House. “The Mauritanian government’s clear disrespect for rule of law when human rights activists are peacefully protesting underlines the government’s fear of the popular support for the anti-slavery movement in Mauritania.”
Mauritania is rated Not Free in Freedom in the World 2014 and Partly Free in Freedom of the Press 2014.
Freedom House is an independent watchdog organization that supports democratic change, monitors the status of freedom around the world, and advocates for democracy and human rights.
