UN calls on military government to release President in Niger
FILE PHOTO: French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum before a meeting over security in the Sahel region at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, November 12, 2021. The REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
The UN has called on the Niger military government for the immediate release of ousted Niger president Mohamed Bazoum and his wife, Hadiza, on February 10, reports MSN.
Bazoum has been held in detention alongside his wife Hadiza since a military coup led by General Abdourahamane Tiani, leader of the presidential guard deposed him on July 26th 2023.
Mohamed and Hadiza Bazoum have been confined under strict conditions in the presidential palace in Niamey since the coup.
“The deprivations of liberty of Mohamed Bazoum and Hadiza Bazoum are arbitrary,” stated a UN report obtained by AFP, adding that the “appropriate measure would be to immediately free Mr and Mrs Bazoum.”
The group that published the report operates under the UN Human Rights Council.
Bazoum’s lawyers renewed calls for his release following the report on the 10th, further emphasising that the couple have been cut off from all contact with the outside world since the beginning of their imprisonment.
Reed Brody, a member of Bazoum’s legal team states that “the United Nations has rejected the shaky explanations and confirmed what the world already knows: President Bazoum is being held in a cruel and illegal manner.”
Niger’s military junta has claimed Bazoum engaged in telephone discussions with “enemy forces” in an attempt to orchestrate a foreign-backed overthrow of the new government, although the UN has noted that the junta has not provided evidence to the effect.
The military government in Niger has a pattern of suspicion towards foreign entities, as well as of expelling or forcing withdrawal of international groups and institutions.
The Niger military government has clashed with ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States), which threatened to intervene to restore civilian rule after the 2023 coup. Niger is the most recent of the former ECOWAS states to exit the political bloc after the installation of a military junta, alongside Burkina Faso and Mali.
The new Alliance of Sahel States is largely rejecting involvement with Europe and the US, and is looking towards Russia as a geopolitical ally. Tensions are high, especially between France and Niger. ECOWAS is percieved to be heavily backed by France, which largely influenced Niger’s decision to exit.
MSN
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