Niger : Communication in support of Moussa Tiangari

Moussa Tiangari was arrested at his home on 3 December 2024 on his return from an international trip. Charged with undermining state security, criminal conspiracy in connection with terrorism and glorifying terrorism, he spent a month in police custody before being presented to the senior examining magistrate in Niamey on 3 January 2025. The doyen decided to imprison him in the Filingué prison, taking him almost 200 kilometres away from Niamey and adding two extremely serious charges to his file: undermining national defence and conspiring with enemy powers. Moussa Tiangari faces life imprisonment or even the death penalty.

We, the signatory human rights organisations, and those close to him, emphasise the absence of proof or evidence of the facts of which he is accused and express our great concern and indignation at his arbitrary arrest, indictment and imprisonment.

We recall that Moussa Tiangari has been an important figure in Nigerien civil society for decades, and an upright activist working in favour of human rights, particularly those of migrants. We reiterate our call for his immediate release and warn of the increasing repression affecting civil society in Niger and the relentless intimidation to which human rights defenders are subjected. Finally, we recall that attacks on human rights and solidarity, but also on public debate, are increasingly frequent in Niger and internationally.

As civil society actors, we will continue to fight for the defence of the rights of all, so that migration and solidarity are no longer criminalised in Niger and elsewhere, and so that Moussa Tiangari finally regains his freedom.

List of the first signatories :

ACAT-France
AEC - Alternative Espaces Citoyens
AMDH - Association Marocaine des Droits Humains
Anafé - Association nationale d’assistance aux frontières pour les personnes étrangères
APDHA - Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de Andalucía
ARACEM
ARCI
Asociación ELIN
CNCD-11.11.11
Collectif Loujna-Tounkaranké
CRID
Emmaüs Europe
Emmaüs International
Emmaüs Roya
Fédération internationale pour les droits humains (FIDH), dans le cadre de l’Observatoire pour la Protection des Défenseurs des Droits Humains
FTCR - Pour une citoyenneté des deux rives
La Cimade
Ligue des Droits de l’Homme
Migreurop
MRAP - Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l’amitié entre les peuples
Organisation mondiale contre la torture (OMCT), dans le cadre de l’Observatoire pour la Protection des Défenseurs des Droits Humains
Red Acoge
Statewatch
FTDES