UN Rights Chief to Niger Junta: Stand Down, Restore Democracy
In a prepared statement, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk noted that the people of Niger, "one of the poorest countries in the world," have been forced to endure even more misery following last month's military coup.
"The people have already been through so much hardship over the years," he said. "Now the very people who they elected to build a pathway to end their destitution have been removed by force against the constitutional order and detained by the coup leaders. They must be released at once, and democracy restored."
President Mohamed Bazoom, his son, and wife have been held in reportedly "difficult living conditions" in the basement of his palace in Niamey since the July 26 coup.
Türk said he was very concerned about the coup leaders' announced decision to prosecute Bazoom and his allies for high treason.
"This decision is not only politically motivated against a democratically elected president but has no legal basis as the normal functioning of democratic institutions have been cast aside," he said.
He warned this action would lead to further instability, repression, and suffering for the people in Niger, noting that there has been a noticeable clampdown on civic space since the generals took power.
"The very notion of freedoms in Niger is at stake," he added. "President Bazoom was the first democratically elected president in the country's coup-prone history in 2021. Generals cannot take it upon themselves to defy, at a whim, the will of the people.
"Rule-by-gun has no place in today's world," he said.
ECOWAS ready to intervene
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has said it is ready to intervene militarily in Niger if diplomatic efforts fail to restore constitutional rule in the country.
U.N. human rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani warned any military option carries with it potential risks. She said Türk is concerned about the regional implications of a military intervention and the impact it would have on the human rights and protection of civilians.
"As the high commissioner has pointed out, this is the sixth coup in the region in just the past three years, the others being Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso — two in Mali and two in Guinea. So, the regional implications of any security situation are already very clear," she said.
Niger, like neighboring states in Africa's Sahel region, has been battling violent Islamist and sectarian insurgencies for a decade, adding to the country's poverty.
Commenting on the coup, Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said, "We are deeply concerned about the spiraling situation in Niger, a country that already faces two large-scale humanitarian crises in the Central Sahel and the Lake Chad basin."
Egeland warned of "very serious risks of further destabilization" for both the country and the wider volatile region.
"We are particularly worried about the fallout of any conflict on refugees coming from ECOWAS countries, and about new forced displacements an armed escalation could prompt," he said.
Latest figures from the U.N. refugee agency puts the number of forcibly displaced people in Niger at 730,000. U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh said that includes almost 350,000 refugees, just over 50,000 asylum seekers, and nearly 350,000 internally displaced people.
"The situation now is very fluid," said Saltmarsh. "We have not as of yet seen significant cross-border movements of people from Niger since the coup … but, of course, we are monitoring the situation around the borders very, very closely and are ready to respond if needed."
Millions hungry, vulnerable
More than 10 million people — over 40% of Niger's population — is mired in extreme poverty.
Following the military coup, ECOWAS imposed trade and financial sanctions, which have resulted in severe power cuts, surging food prices and increased hardship for Niger's impoverished masses.
According to preliminary analyses from the World Food Program, some 7.3 million moderately food-insecure people could see their situation worsen due to the unfolding crisis.
"Already prior to the coup, one in six people needed humanitarian assistance," said Egeland.
He said the sanctions and suspensions of development aid would worsen conditions for a population already under heavy strain, exposing an estimated 1.4 million people to additional risks "such as youth enrollment into armed groups, child labor and underage marriage."
Human rights chief Türk said sanctions must not include humanitarian aid as millions of people are reliant on this assistance.
Spokesperson Shamdasani said the high commissioner insists any sanctions that are imposed "need to be very carefully targeted to assess the potential human rights impact on the population."
She noted that more than 100 trucks carrying food and other livelihoods were stranded at the border between Benin and Niger due to the ECOWAS sanctions.
"We are calling at least for humanitarian exemptions to sanctions to avert a rapid deterioration of the food security and malnutrition situation in the country," she said.