"Niger – Civil society organisations call on authorities to end harassment of human rights defenders", 24 Mar 2020

Several civil society organisations* have expressed concern over the arrest of at least 15 Nigerien civil society members, and the detention and prosecution of seven of them. These events are taking place in the context of an increasingly deteriorating climate for civil society in Niger where several serious violations of fundamental freedoms have been recorded in recent weeks. On 13 March, the Council of Ministers released a statement on the measures the country is taking to control the spread of COVID-19, including the banning of gatherings of over 1,000 people. On 15 March, an assembly was held in the capital, Niamey, to denounce a misappropriation of public funds for the purchase of weapon equipment intended to fight terrorism. The rally was declared by the organisers before the Cabinet issued its communiqué after which they did not receive a notification of the ban and therefore decided to continue the assembly despite the ban. That same day...security forces blocked all the routes leading to the [square] where the rally was planned... Between 15 and 17 March, at least 15 people were arrested and detained on the premises of the judicial police for “participation in a prohibited demonstration and aiding in arson.” Several of these activists had already been arrested in 2018 in a wave of arrests linked to protests against the 2018 finance law. To date, Moudi Moussa, Mounkaila Halidou, Moussa Tchangari, Habibou Soumaila, Sani Chekaraou, and Maïkoul Zodi** are still under arrest...Niger has just joined the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which requires the country to implement clear requirements in terms of fundamental freedoms, under the Civil Society Protocol. The Nigerien authorities must therefore comply with their commitments to these...