First Independent Mena Newspaper
Despite international outcry against slavery across the globe, Mauritanian authorities continue their crackdown on anti-slavery activists with the arrest recently of abolitionist Biram Ould Abeid who was interrogated by authorities following three days of demonstrations led by the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA). Analysts consider his arrest as a move by the government to […]
The African Union rebuked Mauritania for falling short of fully eliminating slavery after the country handed out lenient sentences to a slave owner. Mauritania should “give due regard to the issue of slavery and make the elimination… one of its priorities,” the pan-African body said in a statement on its website. The statement was published […]
The United Nations, the European Union and the African Union have agreed to put in place a joint Task Force to save and protect lives of migrants and refugees along the routes and in particular inside Libya. The decision was made Wednesday during a meeting on the sidelines of the African Union-European Union Summit that […]
The human slave auction documented by CNN in Libya ignited global outrage and drew attention to an inhuman practice that is regrettably also rampant in other parts of Africa where the media does not have the freedom to report on abhorrent slavery practices. The wave of condemnation of degrading treatment endured by sub-Saharan migrants reduced […]
Global outrage has followed the shocking video footage that has emerged claiming to show Sub-Saharans being sold at auction in Libya slave markets. The video showed migrants referred to as “merchandise” sold off for $400. Protests erupted in Europe and Africa, while soccer stars and U.N. officials made impassioned pleas for the abuse to end. […]
Mauritanian activist Biram Dah Abeid Wednesday was forced to abort conference on human rights abuses and racism in his country after receiving instructions from Senegalese authorities. The leader of the anti-slavery movement (IRA) Wednesday called off Thursday-planed conference on the situation of human rights and racism in the North African country where he has been […]
Mauritanian authorities persist on maintaining a blackout on the practice of slavery in the country by denying access to international civil rights organizations, the latest of which is a US anti-slavery delegation that planned meetings with Mauritanian government officials and activists. The group, which includes leading US abolitionists, was rejected entry visas after landing at […]
President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz will not rule Mauritania beyond 2019, end of his current tenure, Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid, President of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA) has told sympathizers. Mauritania has been embroiled in a political crisis after it became clear that President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz wanted […]
Mauritanian authorities were strongly criticized in a UN report for discriminating against the Haratins and Afro-Mauritanians who remain excluded from all positions of power coupled with economic and social marginalization. “Haratines and Afro-Mauritanians are excluded from almost all positions of real power and many aspects of economic and social life, which has the consequence of […]
Birame ould Dah ould Abeïd, leader of the anti-slavery movement IRA (Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement) has announced his comeback to Mauritania for Sunday January 15 after he conducted an eight-month international campaign to denounce the ongoing phenomenon in the North African country, the last country in the world still practicing the […]