Press liberalization in Niger

Africaphiles are often reading disturbing stories about attacks on press freedom on the continent. Even South Africa, arguably the freest state in Africa, recently rammed through a law that was widely denounced as a serious assault on the country's thriving independent media.

So I was pleased to read the following headline in a Zambian newspaper: President of Niger to be first to sign document abolishing barbaric media laws in Africa.

Niger's president Mahamadou Issoufou approved a bill that revoked the country's criminal defamation and insult laws. Such a repeal is one of the major appeals of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, which cites the laws as one of the severe threats to media freedom in Africa. By contrast, defamation is a civil offense in most western countries (which means the punishment is monetary, not prison). Criminal defamation laws are a popular tool used by autocratic regimes to silence dissent, by making criticism an imprisonable offense.

Kudos to Pres. Issoufou for the move. Many long-time opposition leaders turn autocratic as soon as they gain power. Senegal's Abdoulaye wade and former Cote d'Ivoire strongman Laurent Gbagbo are just two. So it's gratifying to see Niger's leader bucking the trend.

'Which coups count?'

Ethan at My Heart's in Accra muses on the wildly differing international reaction to the protests in Iran, the coup in Honduras and coup in Niger.

Niger becomes dictatorship

Rebuffed repeatedly in his attempts to become president-for-life by the country's National Assembly and Constitutional Court, Niger's president Mamadou Tandja has seized dictatorial powers. Tandja, who's already been in power for ten years, dissolved parliament and declared that he would rule by decree. He said that "the independence of the country is threatened," no doubt he meant the independence of his wallet.

The National Assembly refused Tandja's request to remove the constitutional two-term limit on the presidency. He tried to organize a public referendum to circumvent the legislative decision but its legality was twice struck down by the courts.

Niger leader tries to confiscate power

The leader of Niger has dissolved parliament and announced plans to hold a referendum that would allow him to be president-for-life. President Mamadou Tandja made the announcement after both legislators and the high court rejected his plans for a presently illegal third term in office. The National Assembly refused to push through constitutional changes that would've removed the two-term presidential limit. Tandja proposed a public vote to force through the changes, but the country's constitutional court ruled that a referendum "cannot serve as a basis for changing the constitution". The court added that the changes would violate his oath of office.

Presidential elections are scheduled for November of this year. The regional grouping ECOWAS warned that Niger faced sanctions if Tandja pushed his power grab. The grouping cited in particular a regional rule that Niger signed up to banning signatory member states from modifying their constitution in the six months immediately prior to an election, unless political figures from across the spectrum are in agreement.

Free Moussa Kaka

Moussa Kaka is a political prisoner from Niger who worked as a journalist for Radio France Internationale. He was imprisoned almost a year ago by that country's government because he made contacts with Niger's Touareg rebels in order to do his job as a journalist.




Also see here (or the more comprehensive French version here)