military coup
Niger’s President: Save last bastion of human rights
Mohamed Bazoum makes an appeal to the world community. photo
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
In a coup last week, he was arrested and declared disempowered. Now the democratically elected Nigerien President is appealing to the world community as a “hostage”.
Just over a week after the coup d’état in Niger, the detained President of the West African country Mohamed Bazoum, issued an urgent appeal to the world community to save the “last bastion of respect for human rights” in the Sahel.
“This attempted coup is a tragedy for Nigerians, but its success would have devastating consequences far beyond our borders,” Bazoum warned in a guest post for the Washington Post published online Thursday.
In the meantime, a Bundeswehr plane with around 30 people who had left Niger on board landed in Wunstorf, Lower Saxony, most of them probably Bundeswehr soldiers.
Consequences for the whole world
The democratically elected Bazoum was arrested last week in Niger by officers of the Presidential Guard and declared disempowered. The commander of the elite unit, General Abdourahamane Tiani, subsequently proclaimed himself the new ruler. Shortly thereafter, the putschists suspended the constitution and dissolved all constitutional institutions. After military coups in Mali and Burkina Faso since 2020, Niger became the last of the three neighboring countries in the Sahel to be led by a democratically elected government.
He is writing as a hostage, Bazoum said in the Washington Post. “Niger is under attack by a military junta trying to overthrow our democracy, and I am just one of hundreds of citizens who have been arbitrarily and illegally imprisoned,” the president wrote. The coup against his government has no justification whatsoever. If it succeeds, it will have consequences for the entire world.
So far, Niger has not only been an important partner for the West in containing migration, but also in the fight against terrorism. In the Sahel, dozens of militias, some of whom have sworn allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) or the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, regularly carry out attacks.
Bazoum wrote that his government came to power in democratic elections in 2021. Any attempt to overthrow a legitimate government must be stopped. He appreciates the clear condemnation of “this cynical attempt to undermine the remarkable progress that Niger has made as a democracy.” The United States, the African and European Unions, and the West African community of nations, Ecowas, have all spoken out loud and clear.
Appeal to the world community
In this emergency, he is now calling on the US government and the entire world community to help his country restore constitutional order, Bazoum continued. Only by defending common values such as democracy and respect for the rule of law can progress be made in the fight against poverty and terror. His country is at a turning point in its history.
The conflict in Niger could escalate further. The Ecowas had given the putschists an ultimatum. If President Bazoum is not reinstated by Sunday, Ecowas will take action that could include sanctions and violence, it said.
The new rulers in Niger are meanwhile looking for allies: the deputy head of the Nigerien military junta, General Salifou Modi, traveled to the neighboring countries of Mali and Burkina Faso, which are also ruled by the military after coups. Both have pledged their support to Niger, Modi said, particularly in the area of security. The sanctioned Ecowas members Mali and Burkina Faso had previously warned the international community against military intervention in Niger.
Bundeswehr plane landed in Wunstorf
According to dpa information, there were around ten European civilians on board the Bundeswehr plane from Niamey, which landed in Wunstorf in the early hours of the morning. The “Spiegel” also reported on Thursday evening that the majority of those who had been flown out were Bundeswehr soldiers.
The A400M transport aircraft was already at the airport in the capital Niamey before the military coup in the West African country, a spokesman for the operations command said in the evening. The plane took off with permission from the Nigerien authorities.
The Bundeswehr operates an air transport base in Niamey, which is the central hub for the Bundeswehr in West Africa and is important for the ongoing withdrawal from neighboring Mali. More than 100 German soldiers were last stationed there.
After last week’s coup d’état, the federal government decided not to carry out its own evacuation flights. Around 60 German nationals were taken out of the country on French planes.