Seydou-Kaocen Maiga, a human rights activist from Niger, posted an article on Facebook criticizing how the country’s government reacted to a terrorist attack that took place in Inates on December 10, 2019. He was arrested and criminally prosecuted for his publication.
On December 10, 2019, a terrorist attack took place in Inates, Tillaberi Region of Niger, when gunmen ambushed a military post. This attack killed 71 soldiers, showing the trademark of the Islamist groups operating in the region. On December 12, 2019, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) claimed responsibility for the attack, issuing a statement via the branch of the militant group in the region. The attack took place in the week prior to a scheduled meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and the leaders of five countries in the Sahel region.
Seydou-Kaocen Maiga, a human rights activist, published an article on Facebook asking for the President’s support regarding the state of the survivors of the attack and criticizing the government’s immediate response. In December 2019, Mr. Maiga was arrested and accused of “spreading false news.” After a 48-hour investigation, the police modified the charges to “undermining state security in time of war”. They were changed again when he was brought before the prosecutor, who accused him of “undermining the morale of the troops in time of war and undermining state security in time of war.”
Despite having lawyers alleging that the offense did not exist, on January 9, 2020, he was given a 6-month suspended prison sentence and a fine of 500,000 CFA francs (more than 830 USD). Even though he appealed this decision, the Court of Appeal confirmed it in July 2021. He appealed again through a procédure en cassation, which is still ongoing.
In this case, Maiga’s freedom of expression was violated because the government arrested him after he shared the ongoing situation in the aftermath of the terrorist attack. The government alleges that his photos put national defense in jeopardy, but they were only published after the attack happened. The act of prosecuting him has the purpose of holding him accountable for criticizing the government’s response to the terrorist attack.
The 2019 Cybercrime Law in Niger has been used to close civic space in Niger, particularly due to article 31, which criminalizes the ‘dissemination, production and making available to others of data that may disturb public order or threaten human dignity through an information system’. Since the Law came into force, activists have been arrested after criticizing the government via WhatsApp or Facebook. As a result, citizens are being suppressed for pointing out corruption allegations against government officials.
Another example is the arrest and conviction of journalist Kaka Touda Mamane Goni, after he published a post on social media about a suspected COVID-19 case at a hospital on March 4, 2020, two weeks before Nigerian authorities publicly confirmed the country’s first coronavirus case. He was found guilty of “dissemination of data likely to disturb public order” under the Cybercrime Law. He was given a three-month suspended sentence and ordered to pay a symbolic fine to the hospital.
It should be noted that the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression have expressed their concern over articles 29 and 31 of the Cybercrime Law, because they may have a chilling effect on the exercise of freedom of expression and the important work carried out by human rights defenders and journalists in Niger.
- L’événement Niger, Niger: L’activiste Seydou Kaocen Maiga interpellé par la Police (19 December 2019)