Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards

(Picture courtesy of IRA Mauritania)

For those who are sceptical of human rights awards and their impact, the following report should give some food for thought: “Following a month-long trip across Europe,

at the beginning of which he was awarded the Frontline Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, Biram Abeid was welcomed back to Mauritania by crowds of IRA supporters”. On Saturday 15 June, 2013 thousands of IRA supporters were waiting for him at the Nouakchott international airport. Upon his arrival, Biram was warmly congratulated for the prize awarded to him by Frontline Defenders. A meeting organized straight after his arrival was the occasion for him to reaffirm his will to continue the battle for justice and truth for all Mauritanians who have suffered at the hands of the ruling elite, not least of which the Haratins who make up the large majority of the enslaved population in Mauritania. Despite having signed and ratified international covenants and its own national laws, Mauritania continues to turn a blind eye towards the practice of slavery in the country and has gone as far as demanding the death penalty for Biram Abeid, who has been freed conditionally.

via UNPO: Biram Abeids Triumphant Return To Mauritania.

See more at: http://www.unpo.org/article/16074#sthash.d5AyvXWd.dpuf

This entry was posted on June 28, 2013 at 14:09 and is filed under Front Line, human rights, Human Rights Defenders.

Tags: Africa, awards, Biram, empowering civil society, Front Line, Haratin, human rights, human rights awards, Human Rights Defenders, IRA, Mauritania, NGO, Nouakchott, slavery, UNPO