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Title: Niger Human Rights Practices, 1995
Author: U.S. Department of State
Date: March 1996
NIGER
Niger was a multiparty democracy throughout the year. The elected
civilian government was overthrown by a military coup in January 1996.
The Constitution under which the Government served throughout the year
provides for a strong presidency, an ethnically representative
Parliament (the 83-seat unicameral National Assembly), and an
independent judiciary. Niger first held multiparty elections in 1993;
international observers judged both the presidential and legislative
elections free and fair. When Prime Minister Mohamadou Issoufou
resigned in late 1994, a parliamentary majority opposed to President
Mahamane emerged. The President dissolved the National Assembly and
called new elections. The elections, held in January, were also judged
free and fair by observers, and gave the opposition a three-seat
majority, which increased following several defections late in the year.
After failing to secure the Assembly's approval of a Prime Minister of
his choice, the President named Hama Amadou, the opposition Movement for
a National Development Society Party's secretary-general, to be Prime
Minister. The continuing "cohabitation" between a directly elected
President and a Prime Minister backed by a parliamentary coalition
opposed to the President was difficult and was cited by the military as
its major justification for overthrowing the Government. The Supreme
Court is independent of the executive.
A 3-year Tuareg insurgency in the north subsided with an October 1994
cease-fire. A formal peace accord was signed in April which called for
decentralization of administration in northern regions, government
support for northern economic development and grouping of rebels into
special military units. In June the National Assembly passed a general
amnesty releasing all those imprisoned for suspected or proven rebel
activities.
Security forces consist of the army, the gendarmerie (paramilitary
police), the Republican Guard, and the national police. Despite almost
two decades of military rule prior to 1991, the armed forces supported
the transition to democratic government. Members of the security forces
were responsible for some instances of human rights abuses.
The economy is based mainly on traditional subsistence farming, herding,
small trading, and informal markets. Uranium is the most important
export. Persistent drought, low literacy, a declining uranium market
and industrial base, and burdensome debt continue to weaken the economy.
However, the value of livestock sales, the second most important export,
has increased substantially due to the 1994 currency devaluation.
During the year Niger met International Monetary Fund/World Bank
benchmarks for revenue and spending, and structural adjustment facility
support may resume.
Reports of government troops committing human rights abuses declined
markedly. Clashes between security and Tuareg rebel forces caused
several deaths early in the year. An armed group operating along the
border with Chad accused government soldiers of killing civilians in
retaliation for a raid against a military outpost, a charge the military
denies. Prison conditions are poor. The overloaded judicial system and
delays in trials resulted in long periods of pretrial confinement.
Societal discrimination and domestic violence against women continued to
be serious problems; the de facto disenfranchisement of many women
limits their right to change their government. Female genital
mutilation persists. Labor unions freely bargained for wages and better
working conditions.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom
from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
The peace accord signed with rebel Tuareg groups in October 1994 was
generally respected, although clashes between security forces and Tuareg
rebels caused several deaths early in the year. Arab militia forces
reportedly killed a Tuareg rebel leader and 13 of his fighters in July.
The Tuareg rebel front is pressing the Government to identify and try
the perpetrators. To date, the Government has not fulfilled its
commitment in the peace accord to disarm the Arab militias. Also, an
armed group operating near the border with Chad has accused government
troops of killing civilians in retaliation for a raid against a military
outpost. The military denies the charge.
b. Disappearance
There were no reports of politically motivated disappearances.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment
The Constitution and Penal Code prohibit torture, and there were no
reports that authorities used it.
Prison conditions are poor. There were reliable reports that prisons
were overcrowded, and prisoners suffered poor nutrition, inadequate
medical care, and a lack of facilities. The Niamey prison recently held
883 inmates in quarters built for 350, and authorities housed juvenile
offenders with adult prisoners.
Prisoners are housed separately by sex. Family visits are allowed, and
prisoners can receive supplemental food and other items from their
families. Nongovernmental organizations (NGO's) allege that families
bribe guards for special treatment or privileges. NGO representatives
and diplomatic personnel visited prisons during the year.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
Although the Constitution prohibits arbitrary detention and the law
prohibits detention without charge in excess of 48 hours, police violate
these provisions in practice. If police fail to gather sufficient
evidence within the detention period, the prosecutor gives the case to
another officer, and a new 48-hour detention period begins.
The seriously overloaded judicial system, in conjunction with the
absence of statutory limits on pretrial confinement of indicted persons,
results in excessively long detention, frequently months or longer.
Pretrial confinement of up to 5 years has been reported. As many as 80
percent of persons in custody in Niamey are awaiting trial. The
Government created new regional tribunals to handle civil cases on the
local level.
The law provides for a right to counsel, although there is only one
known private defense attorney outside the capital. A defendant has the
right to a lawyer immediately upon detention. The State provides
defense attorneys for the indigent.
Bail is available to defendants accused of crimes carrying a penalty of
less than 10 years' imprisonment. Widespread ignorance of the law and
lack of financial means prevent full exercise of these rights by
defendants.
In 1995 the Government granted amnesty to all Tuareg detainees being
held for suspected or confirmed rebel activities.
The Constitution prohibits exile, and there were no reports of its use.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary, and the Supreme
Court has asserted its independence. The Court showed impartiality and
sound interpretation of the Constitution when ruling on disputes
associated the power-sharing between the President and the Prime
Minister. For example, following the January legislative elections, the
Supreme Court rejected a petition filed by the President's coalition--
which at the time controlled the Government--to overturn the election
results, ruling that allegations of massive fraud were not
substantiated. The Court also refused to rule on what it considered
strictly political issues related to the cohabitation.
However, human rights groups argue that family and business ties
influence the lower courts and undermine their integrity. Judges
sometimes fear reassignment or having their financial benefits reduced
if they render a decision unfavorable to the Government, although such
practices are reportedly reduced.
The legal system is based on French civil law and customary law. Within
the formal court system, defendants and prosecutors may appeal a
verdict, first to the court of appeals, then to the Supreme Court. The
court of appeals reviews questions of fact and law, while the Supreme
Court reviews only the application of law and constitutional questions.
A traditional chief or a customary court usually tries cases involving
divorce or inheritance. Customary courts, located only in large towns
and cities, are headed by a legal practitioner with basic legal
education who is advised by an assessor knowledgeable in the society's
traditions. The judicial actions of chiefs and customary courts are
incompletely regulated by code, and defendants may appeal a verdict to
the formal court system.
Women have inferior legal status to men and do not enjoy the same access
to legal redress (see Section 5).
Civil and criminal trials are public except for security-
related cases. The law allows the Government to constitute a State
Security Court to try in secret high crimes against the State, but due
process provisions still apply. This, however, has never been used.
Defendants have the right to counsel, to be present at trial, to
confront witnesses, to examine the evidence against them, and to appeal
verdicts. The Constitution affirms the presumption of innocence.
The law provides for counsel at public expense for minors and indigent
defendants charged with crimes carrying a sentence of 10 years or more.
Although lawyers comply with government requests to provide counsel,
they are generally not paid by the Government. There are no political
prisoners.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The law requires that police have a search warrant, normally issued by a
judge, in order to conduct a search. Police may search without warrants
when they have strong suspicion that a house shelters criminals or
stolen property. However, human rights organizations report that police
often conduct routine searches without warrants.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and press, and
establishes the Superior Council of Communication (CSC), which is
charged with guaranteeing free and fair access to the media. The
finances and existence of small newspapers were, in recent years,
occasionally threatened by official government lawsuits charging libel.
To date, however, no newspaper has ceased publication, and no new suits
were brought this year.
CSC members were elected and installed in 1994, but the organization is
hobbled by a limited budget and lack of political direction. The CSC
did ensure equal access to the state media for all political parties
during the January legislative elections. In mid-July the CSC sought to
ban the media from reporting communiques from the political parties on
the political conflicts associated with the contentious cohabitation of
the President and Prime Minister. Protests from media, human rights,
and labor groups that the CSC was violating its mandate and imposing
censorship soon led the CSC to lift the ban.
There are about a dozen private French and Hausa language newspapers and
additional political party weeklies or monthlies. Newspapers openly
criticized the Government and provided access to publication for Tuareg
and labor leaders. The Government publishes the French language daily
Le Sahel and its weekend edition. Foreign journals circulate and report
freely. The most important public medium is the government-operated
multilanguage national radio service, which reported on opposition
activities. Three independent radio stations operate in Niamey, and the
Government granted a license to one independent television station. It
was not yet operational.
Academic freedom is respected.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly and association.
Although the Government routinely grants permits for demonstrations, it
retains the authority to prohibit gatherings in what it considers a case
of tense social conditions or if sufficient advance notice (48 hours) is
not provided.
Under the Constitution, citizens may form political parties of any kind,
except those that are based on ethnicity, religion, or region.
c. Freedom of Religion
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government
respects this freedom in practice. Most Nigeriens practice Islam.
Christians (including Jehovah's Witnesses) and Baha'i practice freely.
Foreign missionaries work without interference, but must be members of
an internationally recognized organization and registered as a Nigerien
association.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign Travel,
Emigration, and Repatriation
The law provides for freedom of movement. Security forces at
checkpoints monitor travel of persons and the circulation of goods,
particularly near major population centers, and sometimes extort bribes.
The continuing fear of rebels or bandits on major routes to the north
severely limits movement. Neither emigration nor repatriation are
restricted.
Approximately 3,600 Chadian refugees have resettled in eastern Niger.
In addition, several thousand Tuaregs from Mali reportedly reside in
Niger but are not officially registered as refugees. The Government
cooperates with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and
other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees. There were no
reports of forced repatriation of refugees.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens to
Change Their Government
Until the military coup in January 1996, citizens had this right and
exercised it in the legislative elections in 1995. Citizens 18 years
and older can vote, and balloting is by secret ballot. The President is
directly elected and members of the National Assembly are elected by
proportional representation for 5-year terms. The Prime Minister is
named by the President and is subject to approval or censure by the
National Assembly.
Following the collapse of a coalition government in October 1994,
legislative elections in January gave majority control of the National
Assembly to an opposition coalition headed by Hama Amadou. Amadou was
named Prime Minister in February by the President.
Women do not traditionally play a role in politics. The societal
practice of husbands' voting their wives' proxy ballots effectively
disenfranchises many women. This practice was widely used in the
presidential and National Assembly elections in 1993, but more stringent
requirements reduced the practice in 1995. Only 3 of 83 National
Assembly members are women; the Government appointed 2 women to
ministerial positions (Education, and Social Development, Population,
and Women's Issues). Special electoral districts are designed to ensure
that minority ethnic groups (Toubou, Fulani, Tuareg, Kanouri, and Arabs)
are represented.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights
Several independent human rights groups and associations operate freely,
predominant among which are the Nigerien Association for the Defense of
Human Rights, Democracy, Liberty, and Development; the National League
for Defense of Human Rights; Adalci (Hausa for "dignity"); and the
Network for the Integration and Diffusion of Rights in the Rural Milieu
(known as "Ridd-Fitla"). There are several active women's rights groups
which, however, face difficulties (see Section 5). The International
Committee of the Red Cross is also active.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion, Disability,
Language, or Social Status
The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, religion,
social origin, or ethnicity. In practice, however, there is
discrimination against women, children, ethnic minorities, and disabled
persons, including limited economic and political opportunities.
Women
Domestic violence against women is widespread, although statistics are
lacking. Wife beating is reportedly common, even in upper social
strata. Families often intervene to prevent the worst abuses, and women
may (and do) divorce because of physical mistreatment. While women have
the right to seek redress in the customary or modern courts, few do so
out of ignorance of the legal system, fear of social stigma, and fear of
repudiation. Women's rights organizations report that prostitution is
often the only economic alternative for a woman who wants to leave her
husband.
Despite the Constitution's provisions for women's rights, the deep-
seated traditional belief in the submission of women to men results in
discrimination in the political process (see Section 3), education,
employment, and property rights. Discrimination is worse in rural
areas, where women do much of the subsistence farming as well as child
rearing and household tasks. Among the Hausa and Fulani peoples in
eastern Niger, some women are cloistered, and can leave their homes only
if escorted by a male and usually only after dark. Women have made
modest inroads in civil service and professional employment but remain
severely underrepresented.
Males have certain legal rights as heads of household, while the law
does not recognize divorced or widowed women, even with children, as
heads of their households. The Government considered a draft family
code modeled on codes in other African Muslim countries which was
intended to eliminate gender bias in inheritance rights, land tenure,
and child custody, as well as to end the practice of repudiation, which
permits a husband to obtain an immediate divorce with no further
responsibility for his wife or children. In June 1994, when Islamic
associations condemned it, the Government suspended its discussion of
the proposed code. Islamic militants reportedly threatened physical
harm to women who supported the code. Many civil rights activists
consider Islamic fundamentalism to be the greatest threat to attainment
of women's rights. With the withdrawal of the draft family code and
increased intimidation, several women's groups lost membership and
became increasingly beleaguered. However, the recent United Nations
Fourth World Conference on Women and renewed activism by the female
ministers in the Government have provided a new impetus to the morale of
these groups.
Children
The Constitution provides that the State promote children's welfare.
However, financial resources to do so are limited. Only about 25
percent of children of primary school age actually attend school and
about 60 percent of those finishing primary school are boys. The
majority of young girls are kept at home to work and rarely attend
school for more than a few years, resulting in a female literacy rate of
7 percent, versus 18 percent for males. Tradition among some ethnic
groups allows young girls from rural families to enter marriage
agreements on the basis of which they are sent at the age of 10 or 12
years to join their husband's family under the tutelage of their
mothers-in-law. There are credible reports of girls being drawn into
prostitution, sometimes with the complicity of the family.
Female genital mutilation, which is widely condemned by international
health experts as physically and psychologically damaging to health, is
practiced by several ethnic groups in the extreme west and far east.
While clitoridectomy is sometimes practiced by these two groups, the
most extreme form, infibulation, is not practiced.
People with Disabilities
The Constitution mandates that the State provide for people with
disabilities. However, the Government has yet to implement regulations
which mandate accessibility to facilities and education for those with
special needs.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
Ethnic minorities--Tuareg, Fulani, Toubou, Kanouri, and Arab--continue
to assert that the far more populous Hausa and Djerma ethnic groups
discriminate against them. The Hausa and Djerma dominate business and
government. The Government has supported greater minority
representation in the National Assembly and increased education and
health care targeted towards them. However, nomadic peoples, such as
many Tuaregs and Fulani, continue to have less access to government
services.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Constitution provides formal recognition of workers' longstanding
rights to establish and join trade unions. However, more than 90
percent of the work force is employed in the nonunionized subsistence
agricultural, artisanal, and petty trading sectors.
The National Union of Nigerien Workers (USTN), a federation made up of
42 unions, represents the majority of salary earners. Most are
government employees: civil servants, teachers, and employees in state-
owned corporations. The USTN and the affiliated teachers' union, the
National Union of Nigerien Teachers (SNEN), profess political autonomy,
but like most unions, have informal ties to political parties.
The International Labor Organization criticized the law requiring that
all union management officials be citizens, asserting that this
provision serves to restrict the exercise of the right to elect
representatives in full freedom. The Constitution provides for the
right to strike, except by security forces and police.
In 1994 the National Assembly passed a strike law specifying that labor
must give notice and begin negotiations before work is stopped; that
public workers must maintain a minimum level of service during a strike;
that the Government can requisition workers to guarantee minimum
service; and that striking public sector workers will not be paid for
the time they are on strike. The latter condition already prevailed in
the private sector. Prime Minister Hama Amadou's Government suspended
the strike law and compensated public sector workers whose wages were
reduced for striking. The USTN continues to demand that the strike law
be rewritten. The USTN orchestrated four brief general strikes during
the year, as well as two "dead city" days in regional capitals, to
buttress salary and working condition demands. SNEN also struck for 2
weeks in September, demanding payment of wages withheld during previous
strikes. All these strikes were legal.
The USTN is a member of the Organization of African Trade Union Unity
and abides by that organization's policy of having no formal
affiliations outside the African continent. However, it enjoys
assistance from some international unions, and individual unions such as
the teachers' union are affiliated with international trade
secretariats.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
In addition to the Constitution and the Labor Code, there is a basic
framework agreement, negotiated by the USTN's predecessor, employers,
and the Government, which defines all classes and categories of work,
establishes basic conditions of work, and defines union activities. In
private and state-owned enterprises, unions widely use their right to
bargain collectively with management, without government interference,
for wages over and above the statutory minimum, as well as for more
favorable work conditions. Collective bargaining also exists in the
public sector.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
The Labor Code prohibits forced or compulsory labor, except for legally
convicted prisoners. There were no reports of violations.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
Child labor in nonindustrial enterprises is permitted by law under
certain conditions. Children under age 14 must obtain special
authorization to work, and those aged 14 to 18 years are subject to
limitation on hours (a maximum of 4.5 hours per day) and types of
employment (no industrial work) so that schooling may continue. Minimum
compulsory education is 6 years, but fewer than half of school-age
children complete
6 years of education.
The law requires employers to ensure minimum sanitary working conditions
for children. Law and practice prohibit child labor in industrial work.
Ministry of Labor inspectors enforce child labor laws. Child labor is
practically nonexistent in the formal (wage) sector, although children
work in the unregulated agricultural, commercial, and artisan sectors.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The Labor Code establishes a minimum wage for salaried workers of each
class and category within the formal sector. The lowest minimum wage is
approximately $38 (cfa 20,500) per month. Additional salary is granted
for each family member and for such working conditions as night shifts
and required travel. Minimum wages are not sufficient to provide a
decent living for workers and their families. Most households have
multiple earners (largely informal commerce) and rely on the extended
family for support.
The legal workweek is 40 hours with a minimum of one 24-hour rest
period. However, for certain occupations the Ministry of Labor
authorizes longer workweeks--up to 72 hours. There were no reports of
violations.
The Labor Code also establishes occupational safety and health
standards; Ministry of Labor inspectors enforce these standards. Due to
staff shortages, however, inspectors focus on safety violations only in
the most dangerous industries: mining, building, and manufacturing.
Although generally satisfied with the safety equipment provided by
employers, citing in particular adequate protection from radiation in
the uranium mines, unions say workers should be better informed of the
risks posed by their jobs. Workers have the right to remove themselves
from hazardous conditions without fear of losing their jobs.
(###)
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