Government urged to make justice a priority

Niger's first democratic transition since independence provides President Mohamed Bazoum's new administration with an opportunity to prioritise accountability for alleged war crimes committed by all sides in the armed conflict, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has noted. It said massacres by alleged armed Islamist groups in Niger that have killed over 310 people, highlight the need to investigate grave abuses and hold all those responsible to account. ‘With a rising civilian death toll, scores of disappeared people, and increasing unlawful attacks by armed Islamist groups, it's clear that abuses by one side beget abuses by the others,’ said Jonathan Pedneault, crisis and conflict researcher at HRW. He said Bazoum's Government should take urgent and bold action to reverse this trend by aggressively pursuing justice for all war crimes.