The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, expressed today “extremely concerned” about the conditions in which the ousted Nigerian president, Mohamed Bazoum, and his family are detained, who according to him could be subjected to human rights abuses.
“Credible information that I have received indicates that the conditions of his detention could be considered inhuman and degrading treatment, in violation of international human rights law,” Türk said in a statement, in relation to the captivity of Bazoum, his wife and their son. .
The three have been held in an area of ??the Niamey Presidential Palace since the coup d’état on July 26 that brought a military junta to power. Türk claimed to have received information according to which the president and his family do not have access to electricity, drinking water or medicines. “Those responsible for the president’s detention and the rest of the detainees must guarantee full respect and protection of their human rights,” added the high commissioner.
A former adviser to the ousted president, who requested anonymity, explained to EFE that Bazoum, with his wife and son, live on “dry food” and added that days ago his personal doctor was prevented from accessing the presidential residence.
The same source, who denounced the “inhumane conditions” of the detention of Bazoum and his family, pointed out that the deposed president’s entourage was able to alert the international community about his situation.
In the same sense, the religious and traditional leaders close to Bazoum published a statement yesterday, Thursday, in which they denounced that Bazoum and his family have been deprived of all external visits since August 2, warning that the health of the president’s son “it began to degrade strongly”, and they demanded the release of all.
“This concentration camp-like criminal treatment is contrary to human morality and the precepts of our religion that considers human life sacred,” the document read. The chiefs lamented the failure of their mediation efforts with the junta coup military to “humanize the detention conditions” of Bazoum and free his wife and son, as well as blame the coup leader, Brigadier General Abdourahamane Tiani, and “his accomplices” for everything that “could threaten the integrity of Bazoum, his wife and his son”.
For their part, sources close to the military junta – calling itself the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Fatherland (CNSP) – denied to EFE that the military intends to “mistreat” the deposed president “or attack his physical integrity.”
They confirmed that the presidential residence where Bazoum and his family are being held is without electricity and they allege the lack of electricity “suffering by the Nigerien people” due to the sanctions decreed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). ).
Yesterday Thursday, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, affirmed that his country has “made it clear” to Niger’s military leaders that it will attribute responsibility for the “security and well-being” of the ousted president. Blinken said at a press conference that he himself has had the opportunity to speak with Bazoum half a dozen times, the last one on the 8th, while expressing his government’s “deep” concern for Bazoum and his family.
From Geneva, former UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland warned today that the situation in Niger, a country in which the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) threatens to intervene, could cause serious destabilization in the Sahel region and a consequent crisis of refugees and displaced persons.
“We are deeply concerned about the increase in tension in Niger, a place that was already suffering serious crises (…), and in this volatile context there are many risks of destabilization in the country and throughout the region,” Egeland said in a statement. , as secretary general of the NGO Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). Egeland recalled that Niger, with one of the youngest populations and the highest poverty rates in the world, already needed humanitarian aid for a sixth of its inhabitants before the July military coup.
