SOS Slaves this week signaled its displeasure with the U.S. State Department's Annual Report on Human Rights Practices for 2004 for its factual and analytical errors. Read more...
On Jan. 18, a new case of slavery was brought to the attention of SOS Slaves. The victim is a young man named Matalla, who is currently being held by the military after escaping from slavery and now risks being returned to his masters. Read more...
SOS Slaves released its annual report on slavery in Mauritania under the dome of the U.S. Capitol Building on Tuesday, Dec. 2. SOS Slaves, in partnership with the American Anti-Slavery Group, help a briefing on slavery in Mauritania.
Founded in 1995, SOS Slaves is a human rights organization dedicated to eradicating chattel slavery in Mauritania. Led by former slaves and former slave-holders, SOS Slaves works to expose the reality of contemporary slavery to the international community, to aid and educate slaves, and to propose effective solutions to the national crisis of slavery in a country where 40% of the population belongs to a slave caste. Though the Mauritanian government banned SOS Slaves and arrested several of its leaders, SOS persists as an effective underground liberation movement and will not rest until all of Mauritania's slaves go free.
Slavery has been a part of Mauritanian society for centuries. Over 800 years ago, Arab and Berber tribes descended from the Mediterranean peninsula and launched slave raids against the indigenous African population, abducting women and children as slaves. Those enslaved were converted to Islam and raised to believe that their religious duty was to serve their masters faithfully. The relationship of master (bidanes) and slave (haratines) continues to this day, with thousands of haratines families owned as inheritable property by bidanes and denied basic human rights by Mauritania's Islamic courts.
A conversation with former slave Maalouma Messaoud
Escaped slave Ahmeimidi Ould El Khaliva tells his story
Activist Pressures Mauritania to End Slavery (National Public Radio)
NPR profiles SOS Slaves Foreign Secretary Abdel Nasser Ould Yessa, with translation provided by the American Anti-Slavery Group's Jesse Sage.
iAbolish Interview with Abdel Nasser Ould Yessa on his transformation from slave owner to abolitionist.
Droits de l’homme. Le drame de l’esclavage en Mauritanie (Telquel Online - Français)
President: Boubacar Messaoud
Foreign Secretary: Abdel Nasser Ould Yessa
European Branch:
Abdel Nasser Ould Yessa
c/o CCEM
31 Rue des Lilas
75019, Paris, France
President: El Araby Ould Saleck