Source: APO
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Niger’s military junta has entrenched authoritarian rule, dismantled democratic institutions, and intensified repression since seizing power three years ago, Human Rights Watch said today.
On July 26, 2023, Gen. Abdourahamane Tiani and other Nigerien army officers overthrew the elected government of President Mohamed Bazoum. Since then, the junta has consolidated sweeping and unchecked powers, systematically weakening institutions capable of holding the military authorities to account. In the past year, the military authorities have dissolved all political parties and several independent unions, suspended dozens of civil society groups, detained journalists under a broad cybercrime law, stripped political opponents of their nationality, criminalized consensual same-sex relations, announced Niger’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC), and prolonged the country’s political transition without any roadmap toward democratic elections.
“Three years after the coup, Niger’s junta has broadened its assault on human rights,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The military leaders have expanded their own authority while closing civic space and shutting off pathways to justice for victims.”
The junta continues to arbitrarily detain former President Bazoum, his wife, the former Interior Minister Hama Amadou Souley, and Moussa Tiangari, a prominent human rights defender. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, in opinions issued in February 2025 and May 2026, found that the detentions of both Bazoum and Tiangari were arbitrary, in violation of international human rights law, and called on authorities to release them.
In March, the junta adopted a new criminal procedure code setting pretrial detention in terrorism cases at 12 months, renewable once. As Tiangari has been detained since December 2024 on terrorism-related charges, his lawyers filed an application for his release with the court of appeal on June 19. Although the law requires the court to rule within three days, no decision was issued. A week later, the authorities amended the law, extending the maximum pretrial detention period to four years, renewable once.
“The coincidence is too serious to be ignored,” Hamid Amadou N’gadé, former communication adviser to President Bazoum, said on social media. “A justice system worthy of the name doesn’t change the rules to keep a citizen in prison.” Tiangari’s lawyers contend that the revised provision cannot be applied retroactively to justify his continued detention.
The military authorities have also taken a series of actions that restrict media freedom and civic space. They have targeted journalists for reporting on or sharing matters of public interest under sweeping cybercrime legislation. In October 2025, police in Niamey, the capital, arrested the journalists Moussa Kaka, Abdoul Aziz Idé, Ibro Chaibou, Souleymane Brah, Youssouf Seriba, and Oumarou Kané after they shared on social media an invitation to a media briefing about a solidarity fund to raise money for the state security forces. The authorities charged them with “complicity in distributing documents likely to disturb public order” under the cybercrime law. In November, a court released Kaka, Idé, and Brah on bail, and retained Chaibou, Seriba, and Kané in custody, ordering their transfer to Kollo prison, outside Niamey. Seriba and Kané were released on July 15, while Chaibou remains in detention. The cybercrime law, which the junta amended in 2024, reintroduced prison sentences and fines for broadly defined public order offenses.
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which Niger ratified in 1986, guarantee the rights to freedom of opinion and expression.
The authorities have also sought to suppress criticism beyond Niger’s borders. Since late 2024, the authorities temporarily stripped at least 18 exiled opposition figures of their Nigerien citizenship based on a 2024 order that created a national database of people suspected of terrorism. In June 2026, the authorities revoked the Nigerien citizenship of Mariama Djibrine, president of a coalition of Nigerien, Malian, and Burkinabè diaspora opposition groups advocating for a return to constitutional rule in the three Sahel countries. That month, the foreign affairs minister instructed Nigerien diplomatic missions to monitor online criticism of the military authorities, signaling an effort to discourage the diaspora from discussing the country’s human rights situation.
In March, Niger adopted a new penal code that punishes consensual same-sex relations and broadly defined Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) practices with 5 to 10 years in prison and heavy fines. Same-sex marriage is also punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison, and the same penalties apply to people who facilitate, support, finance, organize, or participate in organizations and events for LGBT people.
International media reported that in June, security forces detained at least 16 people, including senior police officers, under the revised legislation. In Niger, where LGBT people already face stigma and discrimination, the criminalization of same-sex conduct is already having consequences far beyond the courtroom. Several community health workers told Human Rights Watch they have suspended outreach and support activities for men who have sex with men due to fears of harassment or abuse. The junta’s criminalization of consensual same-sex conduct contravenes its obligations under regional and international human rights law.
The security situation in the country has continued to deteriorate. Islamist armed groups linked to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State have repeatedly carried out deadly attacks against civilians in the western Tillabéri region. Niger’s security forces have responded with abusive counterinsurgency operations. In January, a Nigerien military drone strike killed at least 17 civilians at a crowded market in western Niger in violation of laws-of-war prohibitions against indiscriminate attacks.
Niger’s withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States in 2025, coupled with the withdrawal from the ICC in June, reflects a broader effort by the junta to restrict avenues for regional and international accountability.
International engagement with Niger’s military authorities has often come at the expense of human rights. Some governments including the United States, Russia, Türkiye, and Italy have prioritized security cooperation without conditioning assistance on adequate human rights benchmarks, despite the junta’s worsening abuses.
The UN has not consistently denounced human rights violations by Niger’s military authorities. As the UN reviews its approach to the Sahel region, including through the assessment commissioned by Secretary-General António Guterres of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel (UNOWAS), UN member states should ensure that accountability and protecting human rights are central pillars of any future UNOWAS engagement with Niger, Human Rights Watch said.
“Niger’s international partners need to reengage to address the junta’s escalating repression in the pursuit of security,” Allegrozzi said. “They should press the authorities to respect fundamental rights, release those arbitrarily detained, stop targeting political opponents and critics, and set out a credible path to civilian rule.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).
