Biram Dah Abeid is an anti-slavery activist and politician from Mauritania. He founded the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA-Mauritania).
Background
Biram was born in 1965 in a village called Jidrel Mohguen in Rosso, Trarza. Though his father Dah, who ran a small business in Mauritania and Senegal, was granted freedom from slavery as an act of benevolence, his mother remained enslaved. Dah was unable to convince his first wife's master and the Islamic judicial authority in Mauritania to free her from slavery, due to insufficient finances. Even the French colonial governor of the time refused to interfere with matters that fell under Islamic Law.
Dah inspired his son Biram to amend the injustice of modern slavery inflicted upon the Haratin ethnic group, to which Dah belonged.
Education
As Biram grew up, he attended high school in the city of Rosso in 1979, where the social inequalities, also present in his native village, were even more prominent. He became more aware of how the caste system, which separated the black masses from the other tribes, denied the marginalized communities access to education and employment, and further impeded their ability to ever gain independence.
At the age of 28, he had to interrupt his studies for economic reasons and ended up participating in municipal elections during this time. However, after 3 years, he decided to continue his studies and went on to obtain a master's degree in History and trained as a lawyer in Mauritania and Senegal.
Career
Biram started a movement called the, ‘National African Movement’ when he was only 19. Its purpose was to combat discrimination and slavery. Members advocated against the maltreatment of black people. One way in which they voiced issues was through writing public letters to the Secretary of State.
In 2007 Biram and former president, Zeine Ould Zeïdane, joined forces to support not only the abolition of slavery, but also fought against discrimination. Mauritania was the last country in the world to abolish slavery, they didn’t until, 1981, but it wasn’t criminalized until 2007. The first arrest ever made by government officials was when a woman held children to work against their will.
In 2008 Biram started a new organization called, Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA- Mauritania). Its mission was to make anyone who was enslaved, or isolated by either illiteracy, poverty, or geography educated on how life would be outside servitude. Biram strongly believes that slaves are binded to their masters not only through traditional practices, but also through economic necessity. There is also a huge discrepancy because of the misinterpretation of Islamic law. Many believe that the law teaches slavery is legal and controlled by religion and their law. Even though Muslims no longer believe that slavery is allowable Mauritanian’s religious clerics have written legal opinions in support of slavery.
Biram was released of his active duties a Senior Adviser to the president of the National Commission for Human Rights in Mauritania in 2008. Their reasoning behind discharging him was because he continuously voiced slavery issues. In addition to this he was threatened to be thrown into prison for, “illegal activities”; he was forcefully advised to terminate his fight against slavery in order to get these charges dropped. He did not and in 2010 was arrested, detained and later tortured; after him and 80 activists peacefully protested at a slave owners home. Biram was released after three months, but the slave master was let go after only nine days.
In 2011 he was again put into prison and sentenced to one year, but later President Aziz pardoned him. That same year Biram was put in the hospital after the police physically inserted themselves during a peaceful sit in. The IRA hosted this event since the police was employing minors- which was against the law.
In 2012 Biram publicly burned sacred Islamic legal texts that permitted slavery. This act is a crime of apostasy and punishable by death. This same text is the one that wouldn’t allow his father and father’s first wife to be together. The president was absolutely outraged at this. He demanded for Biram to not only be put to death, but said he himself would administer the death penalty. Abeid and a few other IRA activists were put in jail. Five months later the groups that went after Biram and his team apologized, the trial and charges were dropped, he was released.
Biram Dah Abeid ran for presidency in 2014 and lost, but has plans to run again in 2018.
Biram is still actively fighting to end slavery. Last year he gave a speech at the Geneva Summit which he has previously spoken at.
Politics
Biram argues that there is a kind of informal coalition — Beydanes [the slaveowning caste], the state, police, judges, and imams — that prevents slaves from leaving their masters. “Whenever a slave breaks free and IRA [his antislavery group] is not aware and not present, police officers and judges help Arab-Berbers to intimidate the slave until he returns in submission.”
Biram also stood as an opposition candidate in the Mauritanian presidential election of 2014 but lost to the incumbent Abdel Aziz.
Personality
Physical Characteristics:
Hair color: Dark Brown
Eye color: Dark Brown