The Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) ordered, Friday, December 15, the “immediate” release of Mohamed Bazoum, Nigerien president sequestered since the coup d’état which ‘toppled on July 26, and that of his family.
The Court “orders the respondent [the military power in place in Niamey] the immediate and unconditional release of all the applicants,” declared the judge, who deliberated in Abuja, capital of Nigeria. “The defendant violated their right not to be arbitrarily detained,” he stressed.
The Court also requested that Mohamed Bazoum be reinstated in his functions. “It is Mohamed Bazoum who represents the State of Niger”, he “remains President of the Republic”, assured the judge. “There are constitutional rights that have been violated,” as well as “political rights,” he insisted.
“Arbitrary arrest”
Mohamed Bazoum has been sequestered in his presidential residence with his wife, Haziza, and their son Salem, since he was overthrown in a coup on July 26. In mid-September, the deposed president appealed to the ECOWAS Court of Justice to obtain his release and the restoration of constitutional order in the country. The motion filed by his lawyers cited the “arbitrary arrest” of Mohamed Bazoum and his family.
According to Seydou Diagne, one of its lawyers, the Court “condemned, for the first time, military authorities who, with their coup d’état, violated the principles of constitutional convergence of ECOWAS”. “It is the responsibility of ECOWAS and its member states to ensure that this court decision is effectively applied,” he added.
These decisions, intended to be binding on States parties, are however not always applied. And the legal victory of the deposed president could prove largely symbolic. Meeting at a summit on Sunday, ECOWAS took note of the regime change, recognizing for the first time that Mohamed Bazoum had “effectively been overthrown”.
If the organization draws the logical consequences, announcing the suspension of Niger from all of its “decision-making bodies” until the restoration of constitutional order in the country, it has, in the process, resumed communication with the military power in Niamey. On Sunday, during its summit in Abuja, ECOWAS opened the way for a reduction in its heavy economic and financial sanctions against Niger, conditioning this relief on a “short transition” before a return of civilians to power.
Of the fifteen ECOWAS member countries, four are now led by soldiers who came to power through coups: Mali (2021), Guinea (2021), Burkina Faso (2022) and Niger (2023). .
