Human shield: Niger\’s ousted president held by junta – The peril of power
Legal Battles and the Human Shield: The Bazoum Saga
Two years in confinement has turned President Mohamed Bazoum and wife Hadiza into a living hostage at Niger’s presidential palace, according to coupled lawyers who argue the junta uses them as human shields to deter foreign military intervention.
Detention Conditions
- Since the coup, Bazoum (65) and Hadiza (57) live in two windowless rooms that block outward views and restrict visitors.
- They receive weekly medical visits and can read books delivered by a doctor and operate a stationary bike.
- Until October 2023, an American lawyer Reed Brody maintained phone contact with the president; the couple now has no link to the outside world, internet, or television.
- Despite sleep disorders, Brody reports they remain decent, keeping spirits warm.
- Their son Salem (23) was released early last year; the junta offered an early wife release, but she declined.
- Basoum resides in the same building as junta leader General Abdourahamane Tiani, raising suspicions that Tiani uses the former president as a human shield to avoid palace bombing.
Justice and the Missing Trial
After the junta’s August 2023 statements that Bazoum would face charges of plotting to undermine state security and treason—death penalty—the former president has not faced formal proceedings. His diplomatic immunity was lifted last year, opening an investigation, yet no concrete court process has started, Brody claims the junta wishes to keep him near Tiani rather than hand him to a prison.
Global Push for Release
- By August 2023, the junta announced intentions to prosecute Bazoum.
- Lawyers have launched multiple proceedings with the ECOWAS regional court and the United Nations, both labeling the detention as arbitrary and demanding release.
- While Niger has quit ECOWAS, the bloc has declared Bazoum’s imprisonment untenable.
- Brody states legal avenues are exhausted, hoping for political action to secure release—a move that could serve as the junta’s bargaining chip in negotiations with foreign nations.
- Negotiations for Bazoum’s release have been ongoing for months between Qatar and Niger; Togo’s mediation in early 2024 has successfully released the couple’s son.
Human Rights Watch has reiterated calls for Bazoum’s release, echoing the community’s consistent demand that the former president’s detention be ended and constitutional order restored.
