Death threats against the winner of the Weimar Human Rights Award 2011

The winner of the Weimar Human Rights Award in 2011, slavery critic Biram Dah Abeid from Mauritania, is at serious risk in his home country. "The human rights activist received death threats shortly before his departure to Weimar," said Ulrich Delius, expert on questions regarding Africa for the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), on Saturday. A few days before, the human rights activist was already warned about a possible assassination plan against him by army officers, because of his criticism of slavery. The assassination was supposed to take place on November 30, 2011 by a command of the the army chief and the secret service chief. The plan was thwarted after it became known.

According to the STP, the Weimar award may be of significant help to protect that Biram Dah Abeid in Mauritania from further intimidation and threats. Following a suggestion by the Society for Threatened Peoples), the chairman of the Mauritanian Human Rights Association IRA (Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement) will be given the award on the Human Rights Day (December 10) by the city of Weimar.

For the past twelve months, Mauritania's government had tried everything in order to silence Biram Dah Abeid. Fake psychological reports were published to allegedly declared him insane. Leading Muslim imams labeled him to be an enemy of the Islam because of his ongoing criticism of the enslavement of 500,000 Mauritanians - endangering the "God-given order" in his country. His passport was confiscated for several months to prevent him from spreading information abroad. He repeatedly received subpoenas from the police or state security. In December 2010, he was arrested and injured during a peaceful demonstration against slavery. For days, he was denied any medical treatment and was finally imprisoned. He was only freed after massive protests in the country and abroad.

Now the government is using more subtle methods against the defiant dissident. He was offered lucrative management and governmental jobs to make him stop his human rights work. When he refused the proposals, Mauretanian state security members offered money to members of the IRA to divide the human rights organization.

By his involvement, Biram Dah Abeid helped to free several thousand Mauritanian slaves in 2011. After the public protests of human rights activist, many slave owners chose to free their slaves for fear of prosecution.