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TITLE:  NIGER HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1994
AUTHOR:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DATE:  FEBRUARY 1995

                             NIGER


Niger conducted its first multiparty elections in 1993, when a
coalition of eight parties joined to elect Mahamane Ousmane
President.  International observers judged both the
presidential and legislative elections to be free and fair.
The Alliance of the Forces of Change (AFC), itself a coalition
of six parties led by Prime Minister Mohamadou Issoufou, held
50 of the 83 seats in the National Assembly through September
when Prime Minister Issoufou resigned, withdrawing his party
from the governing coalition.  A new Constitution, which
established the Third Republic in 1992, provides for numerous
freedoms as well as an independent judiciary.

The Tuareg separatist insurgency in the North continued, as
ethnic minority forces attacked both civilian and military
targets, killing soldiers as well as noncombatants.  Several
rounds of negotiations mediated by France, Algeria, and Burkina
Faso failed to resolve the differences between the Government
and the insurgents.

Security forces consist of the army, the gendarmerie
(paramilitary police), and the national police.  Despite the
experience of almost two decades of military rule up to the
national conference in 1991, Niger's armed forces backed the
transition to democratic government and have accepted civilian
political authority.  On one occasion, troops intervened to
quell violence inspired by religious differences.  The
military's security zone in the Tuareg area is reportedly
established in part to obscure the army's activities from
public scrutiny.

The economy is made up largely of traditional subsistence
farming, herding, petty trading, and informal markets.  Uranium
is the most important export.  Persistent drought, low
literacy, a declining uranium market, and burdensome debt
further weakened the already troubled economy.

Government troops continued to abuse human rights.  Clashes
between security and rebel forces caused civilian deaths.
Police violated laws governing searches, treatment of
prisoners, and length of detention.  The overloaded judicial
system and delays in trials resulted in long periods of
pretrial confinement.  Societal discrimination and domestic
violence against women continued to be serious problems; the de
facto disfranchisement of many women limits their right to
change their government.  The private press and radio expanded
during 1994.  Labor unions actively bargained for wages and
better working conditions, and civic organizations organized
freely.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Section 1  Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
           Freedom from:

     a.   Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing

Prison officials reportedly tortured and killed two Tuareg men
in Agadez in May (see Section 1.c.).

Government armed forces killed two Muslim fundamentalists
during a melee in Bani Bangou.  Fundamentalists had killed
seven gendarmes who had been sent to arrest their leader and
later killed one militiaman in the violence that led to the
deaths of two fundamentalists.  A large force of gendarmes sent
to respond exercised restraint and negotiated the surrender of
those suspected of involvement in criminal acts.  Both
government and insurgent forces killed civilians during clashes
throughout the year (see Section 1.g.).  The Government
continued its investigation into the 1990 and 1991 incidents in
which security forces killed civilians during political
demonstrations but did not arrest or prosecute anyone by year's
end, despite its promises to do so.

     b.  Disappearance

There were no reports of disappearances.

     c.  Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
         Treatment or Punishment

During a rebel attack on an electric plant at Tchighozerine in
August, eight rebels and several defending soldiers were
reportedly killed (see Section 1.g.).  According to reports,
gendarmes illegally took into custody the 25 Tuaregs who worked
at the plant, questioning, beating, and attempting to
intimidate them.  A company nurse suffered broken ribs.

Prisoners are segregated by sex.  Family visits are allowed,
and prisoners receive supplemental food and other necessities
from their families.  There are no reports of unduly harsh
treatment.

     d.  Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile

Although the Constitution prohibits arbitrary detention, and
laws officially prohibit detention without charge in excess of
48 hours, police violate these provisions in practice.  If
police fail to gather sufficient evidence within the detention
period, the prosecutor gives the case to another officer, and a
new 48-hour detention period begins.

The judicial system is seriously overloaded.  There are no
statutory limits on pretrial confinement of indicted persons;
detention frequently lasts months or years.  As many as 80
percent of prisoners in Niamey are awaiting trial.  The
government created new regional tribunals to handle civil cases
on the local level.

The Government held 4 Niger citizens accused of the October
1993 hijacking of a Nigeria Airways flight for nearly 6 months
before submitting the case to judicial authorities.  More than
1 year after the event, they remain in pretrial confinement
despite the objections of local human rights groups. A fifth
Nigerien, turned over to Niger by authorities, has also been
detained for more than a year for investigation of his alleged
role in masterminding the air piracy.

The law provides for a right to counsel, although there are no
defense attorneys outside the capital.  A defendant has the
right to a lawyer immediately upon detention.  The State
provides a defense attorney for indigents.

Bail is available for crimes carrying a penalty of less than 10
years' imprisonment.  Widespread ignorance of the law and lack
of financial means prevent full exercise of these rights.

The Constitution prohibits exile, and there were no reports of
its use.

     e.  Denial of Fair Public Trial

The Constitution provides for an independent judiciary.
Defendants and prosecutors may appeal a verdict, first to the
Court of Appeals, then to the Supreme Court.  The Court of
Appeals reviews questions of fact and law, while the Supreme
Court reviews only the application of law and constitutional
questions.

Although the Supreme Court has on occasion asserted its
independence (see Section 2.b.), human rights groups assert
that family and business ties influence the lower courts and
undermine their integrity.  Judges sometimes fear reassignment
or having their financial benefits reduced if they render a
decision unfavorable to the Government, though such practices
are reportedly reduced.

A traditional chief or a customary court try cases involving
divorce or inheritance.  Customary courts, located only in
large towns and cities, are headed by a legal practitioner with
basic legal education who is advised by an assessor
knowledgeable in the society's traditions.  The judicial
actions of chiefs and customary courts are not regulated by
code, and defendants may appeal a verdict to the formal court
system.  Women do not have equal legal status with men and do
not enjoy the same access to legal redress (section 5).

The law provides that the Government constitute a State
Security Court to try high crimes against the State in secret,
although due process provisions still apply.  Civil and
criminal trials are public except in security-related cases.
Defendants have the right to counsel, to be present at trial,
to confront witnesses, to examine the evidence against them,
and to appeal verdicts.  The Constitution affirms the
presumption of innocence.

The law provides for counsel at public expense for minors and
indigent defendants charged with crimes carrying a sentence of
10 years or more.  Although lawyers comply with government
requests to provide counsel, there are generally not
remunerated by the Government.

     f.  Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
         Correspondence

The law requires that police have a search warrant, normally
issued by a judge.  Police may search without warrants when
they have strong suspicion that a house shelters criminals or
stolen property.  However, human rights organizations report
that police often conduct routine searches without warrants.

     g.  Use of Excessive Force and Violations of Humanitarian
         Law in Internal Conflicts

Government security forces and rebel Tuareg groups engaged in
bloody encounters until October when a truce was signed.  There
were numerous reports that government forces used excessive
violence against both rebels and noncombatants.  For example,
the army killed eight rebels during an attack in August on the
electric power plant at Tchighozerine in which several soldiers
were wounded.  Government forces used excessive force in
questioning civilians, particularly those of Tuareg background
(see Section 1.c.).  Human rights groups maintain that the
military established a security zone in the north to restrict
the access of journalists and to obscure its activities from
public scrutiny.  Judicial authorities deny mistreatment of
rebels detained by the courts but admit that soldiers may have
mistreated prisoners in transit from the battlefield.  Although
the Government did not expressly forbid journalists to enter
the security zone, in practice reporters seldom ventured
there.

Although some of the attacks were simple banditry, rebels
continued a pattern of attacking civilian targets to obtain
vehicles and other supplies.  In August the rebels began to
attack economic targets and government facilities in the
north.  To demonstrate the Government's inability to protect
civilians and key facilities, rebels attacked an electric power
plant, a communications ground station, and two large uranium
mines.  During these raids, rebels killed a number of civilians
as well as government troops.  Rebel raids resulted in the
death of at least 6 civilians as well as 29 government troops
and 37 rebels.  Since the Government established a security
zone in the north and restricted the access of journalists and
others, the number of casualties on all sides remains
unconfirmed.

Tuaregs raided sedentary camps of relatively prosperous
Nigerien Arabs in the North until early 1994.  Arabs, in turn,
formed militias that actively battled Tuaregs.  Human rights
groups charged that the military tolerated, and may have been
an accomplice in, the formation of these Arab militias.
Tuaregs killed a senior Arab militia leader in February.
Fearing an escalation of violence, the armed forces exercised
tighter controls over the Arab militias but continued to use
them as guides.

Section 2  Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:

     a.  Freedom of Speech and Press

The Constitution provides for freedom of speech and press.
While the Government did not routinely bring suits for the
apparent purpose of intimidating the press, the Government sued
a major newspaper--and later imprisoned its publisher--for
fomenting ethnic division by publishing a provocative letter
from one of its readers.  The Secretary of State of Government
(Prime Minister's Office) charged the independent paper with
fomenting ethnic division, a civil crime under Nigerien law.
Authorities detained the publisher for 35 days.  The same
publisher was sued for libel on other occasions by various
government officials, but none of the several suits has been
resolved.  In another prominent lawsuit brought by a high
ranking officer accused of plotting a coup, two newspapers were
found guilty of libel and fined.  The finances and existence of
small newspapers are threatened by such suits, although to date
no newspaper has ceased publication.

Foreign journals circulate and report freely.  However, one
foreign journalist, who entered the country without passing
through border controls, then spent 3 weeks with Tuareg rebels,
had her passport seized and was held under house arrest for 1
week.  She was questioned about rebel activity and her
intentions in Niger before having the passport returned and
being allowed to leave the country.  She was not mistreated.

The permanent Superior Council of Communication (CSC) provided
for in the Constitution is charged with guaranteeing free and
fair access to the media.  CSC members were finally elected and
installed, but the organization is hobbled by a limited budget
and lack of political direction.  The CSC's activities were
limited to granting broadcast licenses.  It granted the first
broadcasting license in February to the local affiliate of
Radio France International followed in April by a local music
and call-in station.

The most important public medium is the government-operated
multilanguage National Radio Service, which reported on
opposition activities.  The Government publishes the daily Le
Sahel and its weekend French edition.  There are 12 private
French and Hausa language and additional political party
weeklies or monthlies.  Newspapers openly criticized the
Government and gave access to publication by Tuareg and labor
leaders.

Academic freedom is respected.

     b.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association

The Constitution provides for freedom of assembly and
association.  Although the Government routinely grants permits
for demonstrations, it retains the authority to prohibit
gatherings either under tense social conditions or if
sufficient advance notice (48 hours) is not provided.

In April a court found 13 opposition party members guilty of
illegally carrying arms and damaging public property after
their demonstration protesting the celebration of the first
anniversary of the President's investiture.

Under the Constitution, Nigeriens may form political parties of
any kind, except those that are based on ethnicity, religion,
or region.

     c.  Freedom of Religion

The Government respects freedom of religion.  Most Nigeriens
practice Islam.  Christians (including Jehovah's Witnesses) and
Baha'i practice freely.  Foreign missionaries work freely, but
must be members of an internationally recognized organization
and registered as a Nigerien association.

     d.  Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
         Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation

The law provides for freedom of movement.  Among the Hausa and
Fulani peoples in eastern Niger, some women are cloistered, and
can leave their homes only if escorted by a male and usually
only after dark.  Security forces at checkpoints monitor travel
of persons and the circulation of goods, particularly near
major population centers and sometimes demand extra payments.
Attacks by rebels or bandits on major routes to the north
severely restricted movement.  Neither emigration nor
repatriation are restricted.

There are 3,600 Chadian refugees in Eastern Niger.  In
addition, several thousand Tuaregs from Mali reside in Niger
but are not officially registered as refugees.  The Government
cooperates with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and
other humanitarian organizations in assisting refugees; there
were no reports of forced repatriation of refugees.

Section 3  Respect for Political Rights:  The Right of Citizens
           to Change Their Government

Citizens exercised this right in early 1993 in three rounds of
elections judged free and fair by international observers,
after adopting a new Constitution establishing the Third
Republic in 1992.  Citizens aged 18 years and over can vote and
balloting is by secret ballot.  The Constitution provides for a
political system with checks and balances, a strong Presidency,
an ethnically representative 83-seat National Assembly, and an
independent judiciary.  Despite a worsening economic situation,
a coalition Government functioned well until a rift developed
in mid-1994 between the Prime Minister and his party and the
remainder of the coalition.  The Prime Minister took his party
out of the Government in September, leaving a new Prime
Minister from the President's party to lead a minority
Government.

Women do not traditionally play a role in politics.  The
societal practice of husbands' voting their wives' proxy
ballots effectively disfranchises many women.  This practice
was widely used in the presidential and National Assembly
elections in 1993.  In the National Assembly, 5 of
the 83 members are women, and the Government appointed 5 women
to ministerial positions.  Special electoral districts are
designed to ensure that minority ethnic groups (Toubou, Fulani,
Tuareg, and Arabs) are represented.

Section 4  Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
           Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
           of Human Rights

Several independent human rights groups and associations
operate without governmental hindrance, dominant among which
are the Nigerien Association for the Defense of Human Rights,
Democracy, Liberty, and Development; the National League for
Defense of Human Rights; Adalci ("dignity" in Hausa); and the
Network for the Integration and Diffusion of Rights in the
rural milieu (known as "RIDD-FITLA").  There are several active
women's rights groups which, with the withdrawal of the draft
family code and increased intimidation, lost membership and
became increasingly beleaguered during the year (see Section
5).  The International Committee of the Red Cross is active in
Niger and Amnesty International also visited.

Section 5  Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
           Disability, Language, or Social Status

The Constitution prohibits discrimination based on sex, social
origin, race, ethnicity, or religion.  In practice, however,
there is discrimination against women, children, ethnic
minorities, and disabled persons, including limited economic
and political opportunities.

     Women

Despite the Constitution's provisions for women's rights, the
deep-seated traditional belief in the submission of women to
men results in discrimination in the political process (see
Section 3), in education (see below), and in employment and
property rights.  Discrimination is worse in rural areas, where
women do much of the subsistence farming as well as child
rearing.  Women have made modest inroads in civil service and
professional employment but remain underrepresented.

Women's inferior legal status, for example, is evident in that
while a male head of household has certain legal rights,
divorced or widowed women, even with children, are not
considered the head of their household.  The Government
considered a draft family code modeled on codes in other
African Muslim countries which intended to eliminate gender
bias in inheritance rights, land tenure, and child custody, as
well as end the practice of repudiation, which permits a
husband to obtain an immediate divorce with no further
responsibility for his wife or children.  In June, when Islamic
associations condemned it, the Government suspended discussions
of the proposed code.  Islamic militants reportedly threatened
women who supported the code with physical harm.

Domestic violence against women is widespread, although firm
statistics are lacking.  Wife beating is reportedly common,
even in upper social strata.  Families often intervene to
prevent the worst abuses, and women may (and do) divorce
because of physical abuse.  While women have the right to seek
redress in the customary or modern courts, few do so out of
ignorance of the legal system, fear of social stigma, and fear
of repudiation.  Women's rights organizations report that
prostitution is often the only economic alternative for a woman
who wants to leave her husband.

There continued to be isolated incidents of violence against
women attributed to religious motivation.  In one widely
reported incident in Maradi in April, religious extremists
physically abused African women wearing Western clothing
because a religious leader blamed the failure of the rains on
immoral women.

     Children

Although the Constitution provides that the State promote
children's welfare, financial resources are limited.  Only
about 25 percent of children of primary school age actually
attend school and about 60 percent of those finishing primary
school are boys.  The majority of young girls are kept at home
to work and rarely attend school for more than a few years,
resulting in a female literacy rate of 7 percent, versus 18
percent for males.  Tradition among some ethnic groups allows
young girls from rural families to enter marriage agreements on
the basis of which girls are sent at the age of 10 or 12 to
join their husband's family under the tutelage of their
mother-in-law.  There are credible reports of underage girls
being drawn into prostitution, sometimes with the complicity of
the family.

According to international experts, female genital mutilation
(FGM) is practiced by several ethnic groups in the extreme
western parts of Niger and in the far eastern areas.  While
clitoridectomy is sometimes practiced in these two groups, the
most extreme form, infibulation, is not practiced.

     National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities

Ethnic minorities--Tuareg, Fulani, Toubou, Kounouri and
Arab--continue to assert that the far more numerous Hausa and
Djerma ethnic groups discriminate against them.  The Hausa and
Djerma dominate government and business.  The Government has
supported greater minority representation in the National
Assembly and increased education and health care.  However,
nomadic peoples, such as Tuaregs and many Fulani, continue to
have less access to government services.

In July, the criminal court in Maradi condemned to life
imprisonment 42 Hausa farmers found guilty of the 1991 murder
of 103 Fulani herders.  The Hausa farmers, bent on vengeance
for the presumed murder of one of their kinsmen, slaughtered
and burned to death the Fulanis in a punitive expedition.  The
court ordered prison sentences ranging from 2 to 20 years for
an additional 14 people.

     People with Disabilities

The Constitution mandates that the State provide for people
with disabilities.  However, the Government has yet to
implement regulations which call for accessibility and
education for those with special needs.

Section 6  Worker Rights

     a.  The Right of Association

The Constitution provides formal recognition to workers'
longstanding right to establish and join trade unions.
However, more than 95 percent of Niger's work force is employed
in the nonunionized subsistence agricultural and petty trading
sectors.

The National Union of Nigerien Workers (USTN), a federation
made up of 42 unions, represents the majority of salary and
wage earners; most are government employees, such as civil
servants, teachers, and employees in state-owned corporations.
The USTN and the Affiliated Teachers' Union, SNEN, profess
political autonomy, but like most unions, have informal ties to
political parties.  During the year, labor challenged the
Government on the its budget and a new law regulating strikes.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) criticized the law
requiring that all union management officials be citizens,
asserting that this provision serves to restrict the full
exercise of the right to elect representatives in full
freedom.  The Constitution provides for the right to strike,
except for security forces and police.  However, the police did
stage a brief strike in March.

Also in March, the National Assembly passed a new strike law
specifying that labor must give notice and begin negotiations
before work is stopped; that public workers must maintain a
minimum level of service during a strike; that the Government
can requisition workers to guarantee minimum service; and that
striking public sector workers will not be paid for the time
they are on strike.  The latter condition already prevails in
the private sector.

USTN staged general strikes over pay throughout the first half
of the year, and a 2-month general strike which crippled public
administration and reportedly decreased government revenue.
Critics alleged USTN corruption led it to terminate this strike
unsuccessfully, compromising future collective bargaining
power.  Information workers and researchers, customs workers,
and the transport sector each struck over unpaid wages or
working conditions.  All these strikes were legal.

The USTN is a member of the Organization of African Trade Union
Unity and abides by that organization's policy of having no
formal affiliations outside the African continent.  However, it
enjoys assistance from some international unions, and
individual unions such as the Teacher's Union are affiliated
with international trade secretariats.

     b.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

In addition to the Constitution and the Labor Code, there is a
Basic Framework Agreement, negotiated by the USTN's
predecessor, employers, and the Government, which defines all
classes and categories of work, establishes basic conditions of
work, and defines union activities.  In private and state-owned
enterprises, unions widely use their right to bargain
collectively with management without government interference
for wages over and above the statutory minimum as well as for
more favorable work conditions.  Collective bargaining also
exists in the public sector.  However, since most organized
workers, including teachers, are government employees, the
Government is actually involved in most bargaining agreements.
The USTN represents civil servants in bargaining with the
Government, and labor/management agreements apply uniformly to
all employees.

The Labor Code is based on ILO principles; it protects the
right to organize and prohibits antiunion discrimination by
employers.  Labor unions reported no such discrimination.

There are no export processing zones.

     c.  Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

The Labor Code prohibits forced or compulsory labor, except for
legally prosecuted prisoners.  There were no reports of
violations.

     d.  Minimum Age for Employment of Children

Child labor in nonindustrial enterprises is permitted by law
under certain conditions.  Children under 14 must obtain
special authorization to work, and those aged 14 to 18 years
are subject to limitation on hours (a maximum of 4.5 hours per
day) and types of employment (no industrial work) so that
schooling may continue.  Minimum compulsory education is 6
years, but fewer than half of school-age children complete 6
years of education.

The law requires employers to ensure minimum sanitary working
conditions for children.  Law and practice prohibit child labor
in industrial work.  Ministry of Labor inspectors enforce child
labor laws.  Child labor is practically nonexistent in the
formal (wage) sector, although children work in the unregulated
agricultural, commercial, and artisan sectors.

     e.  Acceptable Conditions of Work

The Labor Code establishes a minimum wage for salaried workers
of each class and category within the formal sector.  After the
January devaluation of the CFA franc and April wage scale
increases, the lowest minimum is approximately $38 (20,500 CFA
francs) per month.  Additional salary is granted for each
family member and for such working conditions as night shifts
and required travel.  Minimum wages are not sufficient to
provide a decent living for workers and their families.  Most
households have multiple earners (largely informal commerce)
and rely on the extended family for support.

The legal workweek is 40 hours with a minimum of one 24-hour
rest period.  However, for certain occupations the Ministry of
Labor authorizes longer workweeks--up to 72 hours.  There were
no reports of violations.

The Labor Code also establishes occupational safety and health
standards; Ministry of Labor inspectors enforce these
standards.  Due to staff shortages, however, inspectors focus
on safety violations only in the most dangerous industries:
mining, building, and manufacturing.  Although generally
satisfied with the safety equipment provided by employers,
citing in particular adequate protection from radiation in the
uranium mines, unions say workers should be better informed of
the risks posed by their jobs.