Brahim Bilal Ramdhane
Brahim Bilal Ramdhane is a human rights defender and Vice President of the Initiative pour la Résurgence du mouvement Abolitionniste (IRA) (The Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement), an organisation that works to eradicate slavery in Mauritania. Brahim was born a slave and worked as a slave for 20 years.
Mauritania has suffered two military coups in the last decade. In 2009, a year after the last coup, elections were held and the results maintained the leader of the military junta in power by a narrow majority in the polls. The 2006 Constitution, approved by referendum, reduced the presidential mandate to five years and imposed a two-term limit. It also protects the rights of freedom of expression, association and assembly as well as freedom of opinion and thought. Despite a solid constitutional framework and democratic elections, human rights defenders in the country are subject to acts of harassment and intimidation, in particular those working on anti-slavery issues.
