Acquittal of 2 lesbians in Niger leads to uproar over judicial independence
Junta fires a High Court judge and disbands judicial unions, fearing a strike
A judge in the West African nation of Niger lost his job earlier this month because he acquitted two young women who had been charged with public indecency after their private lesbian romance came to public attention.
The judge, whose name was not given in the Niger press, noted the lack of evidence that the affair had been known publicly before police began investigating. Niger has no law against homosexual activity.
The judge set the women free in a ruling on Aug. 5. He was removed from his position as magistrate at the Niamey High Court on Aug. 7 and was reassigned to a lower administrative position, the Journal du Niger reported.
His demotion caused renewed turmoil in Niger, which has been ruled by General Abdourahamane Tchiani since a coup d’état on July 26, 2023.
On Aug. 8, the Minister of the Interior, General Mohamed Boubacar Toumba, supported by the Minister of Justice, Alio Daouda, dissolved all unions involved in the justice sector, following rumors of an imminent strike to protest the loss of judicial independence.
In total, nearly five unions representing judicial personnel have been wiped out with the stroke of a pen: the Autonomous Union of Magistrates of Niger (SAMAN), the Independent Union of Magistrates of Niger (SIMAN), the National Union of Judicial Officers (SNAJ), the Union of Judicial Administration Executives (SYNCAT), Union of Magistrates of Niger (UMAN).
Radio France Internationale stated that the “decrees signed on Thursday, August 7, by the Minister of the Interior do not specify the reasons for these dissolutions,” the Minister of Justice was much more talkative at a press conference at his office on Aug. 8. He said:
“It is rumored that the magistrates want to go on strike because one of their colleagues was reassigned for having handed down a decision in a case involving very serious offenses against public safety and public decency, in an Islamic country where 99% of the population is Muslim.”
He continued: “Young girls got married and the judge saw fit to say that the facts were not established. And from both sides, we have received information that the unions or certain magistrates are pushing the unions to go on strike. In view of all the above, their dissolution has been confirmed and it has been adopted and recorded today.”
At the end of his speech, Alio Daouda issued a warning: “As the structures have been dissolved, I would like to draw the attention of the parties concerned to the fact that any individual public statement will engage the personal responsibility of its author and will be followed by disciplinary and/or criminal proceedings, or both.”
Union opposes officials’ power grab, but doesn’t mention anti-LGBTQ bias
The umbrella Union of Workers’ Unions of Niger (USTN) protested the government action in a statement dated Aug. 9 that avoided any mention of the officials’ lesbophobia.
The USTN demanded “the outright withdrawal of these decrees,” referring to a “serious violation of workers’ fundamental rights and freedoms” and “a flagrant violation of the national and international commitments freely undertaken by Niger in the area of freedom of association.”
Even when promised anonymity, knowledgeable observers in Niger declined to comment on recent developments, reflecting the current climate of fear in Niamey.
