I. Introduction
1. The Republic of Niger is a State Party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (The African Charter) which it ratified on 15 July, 1986.
2. In accordance with Article 62 of the African Charter, the Republic of Niger presented its 14th periodic report covering the period 2014-2016 at the 61st Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (The Commission) held from the 1st to the 15th November, 2017 in Banjul, The Gambia.
3. The Report was presented by the Delegation of the Republic of Niger (The Delegation), led by Mr. Marou Amadou, Minister of Justice, AttorneyGeneral and the Government’s Spokesman. In this regard, he was accompanied by the following:
- Mr. Ousseini Djibage Maman Sani, Permanent Secretary of the InterMinisterial Committee responsible for the drafting of initial and periodic reports for Treaty Organs and the Universal Periodic Review (Inter-Ministerial Committee);
- Mr. Oumaria Mamane, Principal Adviser to the Prime Minister on Human Rights and member of the Inter-Ministerial Committee;
- Dr. Mounkaila Aichatou Seyni, Director-General of the Human Rights, Social Work and Child Legal Protection Department of the Ministry of Justice and Rapporteur of the Inter-Ministerial Committee, and
- Madam. Oumal-Hairy Tassiou, representative of the Ministry of Health and member of the Inter-Ministerial Committee.
4. The Report highlights the developments which took place in the Republic of Niger in the area of human and peoples’ rights as well as the legislative, administrative and other measures taken towards the implementation of the provisions of the African Charter since the presentation of its Combined Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth and Thirteenth Periodic Reports from 2003 to 2014 at the 56th Ordinary Session held from 21 April to 7 May, 2015 in Banjul, The Gambia.
5. These Concluding Observations present the positive factors and those restricting the effective enjoyment of human rights and the areas of concern with regard to the respect for human rights. Thus, the Commission is making recommendations to the Nigerien Government for the strengthening of the enjoyment of human rights in the country.
6. The Commission congratulates the high-level Delegation of the Republic of Niger for the frank and constructive dialogue which characterised the presentation of the periodic report before the Honourable Commissioners and appreciates the information provided in response to the questions and concerns expressed by members of the Commission.
