Niger Rejects Key UN Rights Recommendations on Detention and LGBTQ+ Rights
Author: Bashir Wako
October 1, 2026
HRRC urges Niger to reconsider the recommendations it has rejected and ensure that its human rights commitments are reflected in law and practice. Niamey should take steps to address concerns over arbitrary detention and access to justice while respecting the rights guaranteed under international law.
![The Niger parliament, Assemblée nationale, Niamey [Image credit: Lars Rosendahl Appelquist/Wikimedia Commons]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/f05ed1_54f47479690241c6a889332826e4138e~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_960,h_720,al_c,q_85,enc_avif,quality_auto/f05ed1_54f47479690241c6a889332826e4138e~mv2.jpg)
Niger has accepted most of the recommendations made during its 2026 Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a United Nations Human Rights Council process in which member states examine each other’s human rights records after every five years, but rejected 11 proposals calling for action on arbitrary detention, discrimination against LGBT+ people and its planned withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The UN review comes three years after the military takeover that removed Bazoum from power. Since then, restrictions on political activity, the media and civil society have formed part of a wider change in how authorities govern the country.
Niger’s junta government submitted its response on September 1 after 97 UN member states examined the country’s rights record during the UPR in May. Of the 265 recommendations put forward, Niger accepted 254, including measures aimed at improving civilian protection and human rights training for security forces.
The recommendations that Niger did not accept included proposals concerning the detention of former President Mohamed Bazoum and his wife, Hadiza. The couple have remained in custody since the military takeover in July 2023, when soldiers removed Bazoum from power and detained him at the presidential residence in Niamey. Niamey maintains that their cases should be handled under Nigerien law and rejects the description of their detention as arbitrary.
That position conflicts with an earlier UN finding. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention said in February 2025 that Mohamed’s detention was arbitrary, saying he had been held without a clear legal basis and had not been brought before a judge. The group also found that his limited access to his lawyer had made it difficult for him to challenge his detention and called for his immediate release. The ECOWAS Court of Justice also reached a similar finding in December 2023, ruling that Bazoum and his family had been unlawfully detained following the military takeover and ordering his immediate release.
Another rejected proposal concerned Niger’s decision to begin the process of leaving the International Criminal Court (ICC). The move was announced in June, and the UN review included a recommendation asking the government to reverse it. The ICC deals with individuals accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, meaning the decision has implications for how some serious crimes could be pursued in the future.
The review also raised concerns about Niger’s laws affecting LGBT+ people. Recommendations called for an end to criminal penalties for consensual same-sex relations and greater protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. However, Niamey rejected those proposals, citing cultural, social and religious concerns.
The crackdown on consensual same-sex relations has become more significant since Niger introduced a new penal code this year that criminalises such relations and allows prison sentences of up to 10 years.
Niger’s response therefore leaves key concerns over detention, accountability and discrimination unresolved, despite its acceptance of the majority of recommendations made during the review. Rights groups have questioned whether the government’s position provides adequate protection for people affected by these issues, while Niger maintains that its decisions are consistent with national law and the country’s social, cultural and religious values.
Glossary
Arbitrary detention - The arrest and deprivation of liberty of a person outside of the confines of nationally recognized laws or international standards.
Crimes against humanity – Specific crimes committed in the context of a large-scale attack targeting civilians, regardless of their nationality.
Civilian protection – The legal and operational obligation to shield non-combatants from violence, displacement, and deprivation during armed conflict and other crises.
Civil society - The collective of non-governmental organizations, community groups, and associations that operate independently of the state and the market.
Discrimination – The unjust or prejudicial treatment of individuals based on characteristics such as race, gender, age, or disability.
Genocide – Certain acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
Gender identity – A person’s internal sense of their own gender, which may or may not align with the sex they were assigned at birth.
International law - The body of legal rules, norms, and standards that apply between sovereign states and other entities that are legally recognized as international actors.
International justice - The system of laws, institutions, and processes designed to address crimes and disputes that cross national borders or affect the international community.
Junta - A government, especially a military one, that has taken power in a country by force and not by election.
Penal code - A code of laws concerning crimes and offenses and their punishment.
Recommendations - A piece of suggestion or an advice about how a given issue is dealt or solved according to any given situation.
Reinstatement – An act or instance of being restored to a former position or state.
Same-sex relations - A relationship between people of the same sex.
Sexual orientation - An enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions to men, women, or both sexes.
War crime - Serious violation of international humanitarian law committed during armed conflict.
Universal Periodic Review - A unique mechanism of the Human Rights Council that calls for each UN Member State to undergo a peer review of its human rights records every 4.5 years.
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