Niger - February 2025

On 20 February, a national commission tasked with planning Niger’s transition to civilian government submitted its recommendations to the ruling junta. The commission consulted more than 700 delegates including lawyers, architects and teachers, though not political parties, who boycotted the process. The recommendations include a minimum five-year transition to civilian rule, the dissolution of all existing political parties and new rules that limit the number of political parties to five. The commission also proposed drafting a new constitution and granting amnesty to all participants in the 2023 coup. Further, it suggested allowing junta officials, including leader Brig. Gen. Abdourahamane Tchiani, to contest future elections. Tchiani welcomed the recommendations and pledged to support them, but the junta has yet to decide whether to formally adopt the plan and set the official transition timeline.

Sources: ActuNiger, Reuters, AP News, Human Rights Watch, Radio France Internationale (1), Radio France Internationale (2)

Niger’s junta has intensified restrictions on humanitarian organizations, ordering the closure of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) offices and expelling its expatriate staff on 4 February. The government formally terminated its agreements with the humanitarian organization but provided no official explanation. The ICRC had operated in Niger for 35 years, assisting victims of violence in conflict-affected regions – providing healthcare services to more than 120,000 people in 2024 alone. The ICRC is not the only humanitarian organization to have had its license revoked. On 12 November 2024, the French NGO Acted and its Nigerien partner APBE (Action for Well-being) also lost their authorization without any stated justification. Civic space in Niger has continued to shrink, with authorities increasingly citing national sovereignty to justify the tightening of controls on humanitarian and civil society organizations.  

Sources: Aïr Info, Radio France Internationale, Jeune Afrique