Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement

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The Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA-Mauritania) is a Mauritanian group working to end slavery. It is led by Biram Dah Abeid and was founded in 2008. The group says it has a large network of activists and fights slavery, which Mauritania still faces in many forms. It also challenges any religious justification used to defend slavery.

IRA has used sit-ins, hunger strikes, and marches to push for changes. When cases against slave owners were often dropped by police, the group began taking more direct action. In 2010–2011 they stood in front of the home of a slave owner and demanded an arrest. Abeid was jailed for three months and the owner was released after nine days; this was the first time Mauritanian police jailed a slave owner. Other protests and arrests followed, and by September 2014 the group had helped put about twenty owners in jail. Although the jails were usually brief, supporters say thousands of slaves were freed as owners grew fearful—an outcome some called “Biram Frees.”

The government puts pressure on IRA-Mauritania. It has blocked the group from registering as a non-governmental organization, and has tried to persuade or threaten supporters to end their help. Because IRA cannot register as an NGO, it cannot apply for grants and relies on gifts from patrons, mainly government workers. The government has also tried to push activists out of the movement by offering other jobs.

IRA-Mauritania received the Human Rights Tulip award in December 2015. In 2016, 13 IRA activists were arrested and given sentences ranging from three to fifteen years. A November 2016 hearing reduced all the sentences, and the last of the activists were released in July 2018.

On October 31, 2025, IRA activist Warda Ahmed Souleimane was arrested on charges of inciting the population to overthrow the regime.