The arrests of at least 13 journalists in Niger over the past year on allegations of defamation, undermining national security, and conspiracy against state authority - under the revised cybercrime law - are very worrying. The revised law was adopted in June last year.
Six journalists were arrested on 1 November, among them Moussa Kaka, the director of Radio Television Saraounia. Kaka and three others were subsequently released on bail, but three others - Ibro Chaibou, Youssouf Seriba, and Oumarou Kané, from other local media outlets, remain in custody to date.
All six are accused on vague charges of "complicity in the dissemination of information likely to disturb public order".
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk calls on the authorities to release the journalists still being held, and to discontinue all proceedings that exceed the strict bounds set out under international human rights law.
More generally, the authorities should take steps to review the cybercrime law and ensure its full alignment with international human rights law, in particular Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the rights to freedom of opinion and expression.
