AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

they left the town of Tahoua aiming to reach
Algeria.
In October, the UN Committee on Migrant
Workers highlighted several concerns,
including forced labour of migrant workers,
including children, particularly as domestic
labour and in the mines.
COUNTER-TERROR AND SECURITY
More than 1,400 people accused of being
members of Boko Haram remained in
detention, many charged under Niger’s antiterror
law. Most had been arrested in the
Diffa region since 2013, although some had
been detained since 2012. Among them
were Nigerians, including refugees from
areas affected by Boko Haram. The vast
majority remained held in lengthy pre-trial
detention. In June, the Prosecutor
responsible for terrorism cases said that most
arrests followed denunciations, and that
insecurity and the state of emergency in Diffa
region had prevented effective investigations.
In June, the authorities said that they
planned to extradite to Nigeria all adult
Nigerian detainees to reduce prison
overcrowding and because Nigeria was better
placed to investigate their nationals. The plan
was formally announced in September.
Torture and other ill-treatment remained
widespread in Nigeria, particularly against
people accused of supporting Boko Haram.
The authorities announced that the Code
of Criminal Procedure was to be amended to
extend pre-charge detention in police
custody (garde à vue) from 5 to 15 days,
renewable for a further 15 days.
PRISON CONDITIONS
Prison conditions remained poor despite
steps taken to monitor them. The large
number of people arrested for alleged links
with Boko Haram aggravated the problem.
During the year, Koutoukalé detention centre
held more than twice its capacity of 250
detainees, including around 400 Boko
Haram suspects.
ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES
The fate of eight people arrested by security
forces in May 2015 remained unclarified. El
Hadj Kannaï Kouliyi, Malam Bandama, Ari
Kannai, Abor Madou, Awa Malloumi, El Hadj
Katchouloumi, Mouché Ali Kou Lawan Dalla
and El Hadji Bara were arrested in N'Guigmi,
Diffa region. The families’ request for
information about their relatives’ whereabouts
were left unanswered.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
Some people were prosecuted for exercising
their right to freedom of expression.
In June, Ousmane Moumouni, President
of Action for Democracy and Human Rights
in Niger, was given a six-month suspended
prison sentence for “plotting to change the
constitution” after posting a message on
Facebook about Niger’s security situation
following a Boko Haram attack.
Also in June, journalists Ali Soumana and
Moussa Dodo were handed a three-month
suspended sentence for “putting pressure on
the judiciary”. They had published in Le
Courrier newspaper a list of people accused
of trying to influence a national exam. The list
included influential people such as the
President of the Constitutional Court. The
journalists were prosecuted under the Penal
Code, not the Press Law, which made the
punishment harsher.
NIGERIA
Federal Republic of Nigeria
Head of state and government: Muhammadu Buhari
The conflict between the military and the
armed group Boko Haram continued and
generated a humanitarian crisis that
affected more than 14 million people. The
security forces continued to commit serious
human rights violations including
extrajudicial executions and enforced
disappearances. The police and military
continued to commit torture and other ill-
276 Amnesty International Report 2016/17