UA 275/92 - Niger: legal concern / fear of ill-treatment: Mohamed Moussa, Akoli Daouel, Moctar el Incha, Alhassane Dogo, Elias el Mahadi, Alhadji Kane, Rabdouane Mohamed and many others, including some children (includes correction)
Those named above are among some 90 people of Tuareg origin arrested in Niger between 27 and 31 August 1992. On 26 August a police inspector was apparently shot dead by a group of armed men whom the authorities claim were Tuareg rebels. The arrests were carried out by members of the army, without the authority of any judicial body. One of those arrested, Mohamed Moussa, is a prominent Tuareg and Minister for Transport, Trade and Tourism. The army are apparently demanding the release of some 30 hostages held by the FLAA, a Tuareg rebel group and for the dismissal of some government officials. However, those arrested appear to have no links with the FLAA; AI fears that they may have been detained for ethnic reasons or because of their affiliations with the UDPS opposition party.
EXTERNAL (for general distribution) AI Index: AFR 43/03/92
Distr: UA/SC
UA 275/92 Legal concern / Fear of ill treatment 2 September 1992
NIGER: Mohamed Moussa, Minister of Transport, trade and tourism
Akoli Daouel, founder and leader of the Union pour la
démocratie et le progrès social (UDPS), Union for
democracy and social progress
Moctar el Incha, Préfet, Governor, head of the local
administration of Agadez
Alhassane Dogo, provincial sous-Préfet, deputy head of
the local administration of Arlit
Elias el Mahadi, captain in the Armed Forces
Alhadji Kane, director of the Tourist Bureau in Agadez
and member of the UDPS
Rabdouane Mohamed, teacher
and many others including some children
The seven people named above are among at least 90 people of Tuareg origin
arrested in Niger between 27 and 31 August 1992. The arrests started on 27
August 1992 in the town of Agadez, located 750 kilometres northeast of the
capital Niamey, apparently after a police inspector was shot dead on 26 August
1992 by a group of armed men, whom the authorities have claimed were Tuareg
rebels. The arrests then spread to other towns in northern Niger, such as Arlit
and Tchirozérine and also to Niamey, with the arrest of the Minister of
Transport, Mohamed Moussa, a prominent Tuareg, on 30 August 1992. Amnesty
International is concerned that those arrested may be at risk of ill-treatment
or torture in detention.
The arrests are reported to have been carried out by members of the armed forces
without the authority of any court or judicial authority. The army demanded
the release of 30 hostages including 14 members of the Republican Guard and
eight Gendarmes (members of the para-military police force) who have been held
captive since February 1992 by the Tuareg rebel movement, the Front de libération
de l'Aïr et de l'Azaouagh (FLAA), the Aïr and Azaouagh Liberation Front. They
also called for the dismissal of some members of Niger's transitional government
and of the Préfet of Agadez, Moctar el Incha, whom they claim is "an active
member of the Tuareg rebellion". However, it appears that those arrested,
who include children, do not have any links with the FLAA and may well have
been detained either for ethnic reasons - because they are Tuareg - or political
reasons - because of their affiliation with the UDPS opposition party. Most
are currently detained at the military barracks of Agadez.
The Prime Minister, Amadou Cheffou, is not so far known to have condemned these
arrests carried out by the armed forces; indeed he has publicly stated that
those arrested will be questioned about their links with the FLAA; he has also
called on Tuareg rebels to "lay down their arms and to release the hostages"
in order to achieve a peaceful settlement.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The FLAA launched a violent campaign against the security forces and the
government in late 1991. In 1990 hundreds of people belonging to the Tuareg
ethnic group were arrested, tortured or extrajudicially executed; some of those
held appeared to be prisoners of conscience. Others reportedly died in
detention as a result of torture or ill-treatment. The FLAA rebels were
frustrated that Niger's National Conference, called to discuss the country's
political future, had not addressed their demands for equal treatment; nor
had it satisfactorily examined human rights violations page 2 of UA 275/92 ...
against Tuareg detainees in 1990. The Prime Minister of the transitional
government, Amadou Cheffou, has been engaged in negotiating a settlement with
Tuareg leaders, but rebel attacks have continued and Tuaregs have been subjected
to short term arrests in Arlit in May and in Abalak in July 1992.
This wave of arrests is likely to threaten again the country's difficult
transition to multi-party democracy; presidential elections are currently due
to take place in November and December 1992. In February and March 1992 the
transitional process was threatened by acts of mutiny by army units protesting
at the arrest of a military captain who admitted to involvement in the killing
of Tuareg detainees in 1990.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send telegrams/telexes/faxes and airmail letters
either in French or in your own language:
- enquiring about the reasons and legal basis for the detention of the seven
people named above and all others within the Tuareg community who have been
arrested since 27 August 1992;
- seeking assurances that they are not being subjected to ill-treatment or
torture;
- urging the authorities to allow them immediate access to officials of the
Procuracy, to legal counsel, to relatives and to medical facilities if needed;
- expressing concern that all those arrested appear to be prisoners of conscience
held arbitrarily and purely on account of their ethnic origin, as members of
the Tuareg community;
- appealing for their unconditional and immediate release.
APPEALS TO:
1.Prime Minister:
M. Amadou Cheffou
Premier Ministre
La Primature
NIAMEY
Niger
Telegrams: Prime Minister,
Niamey, Niger
Salutation: Monsieur le Premier
Ministre / Dear Prime Minister
2.Head of the Army:
M. le Colonel Toumba Boubacar
Chef de l'état-major des forces
armées
Forces armées nationales
NIAMEY
Niger
Telegrams: Chief of Staff of the
Armed Forces, Niamey, Niger
Salutation: Monsieur le Colonel /
Dear Colonel
3.Minister of the Interior:
M. Daouda Rabiou
Ministre de l'intérieur
Ministère de l'intérieur
NIAMEY
Niger
Telegrams: Minister of the
Interior, Niamey, Niger
Telexes: 5214
Salutation: Monsieur le Ministre /
Dear Minister
4.Minister of Justice:
M. Abdou Tiousso
Ministère de la Justice
NIAMEY
Niger
Telegrams: Minister of Justice,
Niamey, Niger
Telexes: 5214
Salutation: Monsieur le Ministre /
Dear Minister
COPIES OF YOUR APPEALS TO:
Le Républicain (Newspaper)
Nouvelle imprimerie du Niger
Place du Petit Marché
BP 12015
Niamey
Niger
Faxes: 227 73 41 42
Haské (Newspaper)
BP 297
Niamey
Niger
and to diplomatic representatives of Niger accredited to your country.
PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat,
or your section office, if sending appeals after 14 October 1992.