Niger was ordered by the ECOWAS court to pay damages to a human rights defender for “arbitrary and illegal detention”. It’s a first.
The West African Economic Community Court (ECOWAS) this week ordered Niamey to pay 50 million CFA francs to Sadat Sadat Ilya Dan Malam. His lawyer announced it on the evening of Thursday, June 24. Facts go back to April 2018. Sadat Ilya Dan Malam was arrested in Zinder, in the southern part of the country, while participating in a demonstration against the Finance Act. Accused of “participating in a rebellious movement” and “conspiracy against state security”, he was not released until twenty months later after Zinder appealed to the court dismissing the charges against him.
Historical decision
For Maître Boudal Effred Mouloul, this court decision is historic: “States can no longer continue to invoke public order, this serious view, to prevent peaceful demonstrations by civil society or the opposition. This is one of the greatest successes of this judgment. The court, and this is also important, gave the state of Niger a period of three months to present a report proving that it has now actually relieved this debt, which shows that he has effectively repaired the damage.
“Very important stop”
“So,” the lawyer continued, “this is indeed a very important judgment for the ECOWAS area of human rights, because there have been thousands of Sadats from 2018 until today, people deprived of their freedom of opinion. I think this judgment revives the debate on the place of justice. “In society, about what the contribution of justice should be to the promotion and protection of human rights. It is really an assessment of great importance to us, to human rights defenders. And I believe that Niger will have consequences.”
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