Strange changes in Niger’s rebel movement leave more questions than answers.

Reshuffling is the name of the game in Niamey these days. As President Tandja makes the transition from elected republic to dictatorship, personal loyalty has begun to trump even connections, let alone ability. In the Air Mountains — or Tripoli — Tuareg rebels too have made a high profile change, and show a willingness to please the new order.

Early this week, from somewhere in the rocky volcanic wastes and Acacia dotted valleys of the high Air Massif came a new and puzzling communique from the founding rebel group of Niger’s Tuareg based rebellion. The 31 August statement by the military chief of the “Mouvement des Nigériens pour la Justice” — their first in some time — announced that their titular president and one of two of their founders Aghali Alambo has finally gotten the boot.

Despite press reports, the only thing surprising about this is that there is an MNJ left to make such a pronouncement. In early March 2009 Alambo absconded from the rebel encampment with all their POWs, and appeared in Libya. We only know this because most of the named MNJ leadership, who’d been carrying on a sporadic fighting in the mountains and deserts of northern Niger since March 2007, took the opportunity to quit the group en masse and announce their willingness to begin negotiations with the Nigerien government under the name Front Patriotic Nigerien (FPN). The FPN, headed by younger activists and a number of MNJ fighters who had previously fallen off the radar, talked both of the unwillingness of Aghali Alambo to prosecute the war and his unwillingness to offer negotiations. The FPN claimed that the actual fighting force from the MNJ’s remote encampments was the basis of their new group, and the MNJ was now an empty shell.

Thereafter the MNJ largely went silent. Aghali Alambo negotiated the release of all their captives in Libya — transported home triumphantly by Qadhafi — and took part in the four party talks under Tripoli’s aegis using the MNJ name. The self styled “president” of the rebels remained in the spotlight only by his intransigence: quiting talks and then quickly rejoining them, releasing a huge list of political demands as a basis of negotiation and then moving on ignoring them.

Nothing since March, though, had been heard from actual MNJ fighters in Niger. Monday’s press release from the “Military Chief of Staff” and founding member of the MNJ Amoumoune Kalakouwa came as a bit of a surprise. The statement, saying the President of the MNJ was removed and would be “arrested” should he return to Niger, accused Alambo of “treason” and a variety of high crimes against “the movement”. Like the FPN’s founding statement, it raises more questions than it answers. While condemning Alambo for betraying the cause for the benefit of the Niamey authorities, it also derides him as a loose cannon and obstacle to peace talks. Perhaps more tellingly, Alambo is condemned for spurning the help of Libya’s “Guide”, whose full role in both the genesis and end of the 2007 rebellion has yet to be told.

But by far the strangest part of the statement is a paragraph accusing Alambo of attempting to replace the MNJ vehicles with civilian ones.

le dernier geste en date posé par Mr. Aghali ALAMBO a été de tenter de subtiliser les véhicules militaires du Mouvement pour les amener et les échanger contre des véhicules civils sur lesquels il aurait certainement fait main basse ! Mais, c’est sans compter sur la vigilance des combattants qui l’avaient à l”il depuis le jour où il est apparu très porté sur l’avènement d’un régime anticonstitutionnel dans notre pays.
En effet, comme on l’a vu, des personnes parmi ses proches immédiats et à travers qui il entretient des liens très étroits avec les plus hautes autorités de Niamey, se sont, de retour de Tripoli où elles l’ont rencontré, investies pleinement dans la propagande contre l’État de Droit au Niger.
A partir de là, ne doit-on pas légitimement se poser la question de savoir pour qui travaille Mr. Aghali ALAMBO ? Le Peuple ou les autorités de Niamey ?

The writer blames this action on Alambo’s “links with powerful figures in the Niamey government”, which explains his “propaganda against the legal state of Niger” while in Libya, a clear accusation that Alambo supported Tandja’s seizure of power.

Stranger still, two days later the MNJ released a “clarification” saying that this paragraph had bothered some people, and that “In this release, particularly, there is no intention to address the current political situation in Niger and even less to bring any light on what has happened there and is ongoing.

Ce paragraphe ne contient donc aucun jugement de valeur sur la situation politique nigérienne actuelle mais, cite uniquement un exemple, parmi tant d’autres, pour souligner et mettre en exergue l’unilatéralisme de Mr. Aghali ALAMBO, nuisible au Mouvement des Nigériens pour la Justice .

“This paragraph therefore contains no value judgments about the current political situation in Niger, but cites only one example among many, to emphasize and highlight the unilateralism of Mr Aghali Alambo, harmful to the Niger Movement for Justice.” Que?

The only thing “clear” is that the rump MNJ is riven by factionalism, and at least part of it is bending over backwards to please Libya. In that, at least, the MNJ is of one mind with the other rebel factions of the FPN and the mainly political split of the 1990s rebel chief and later government minister Rhissa Ag Boula, the FFR. All these groups seem to have taken up permanent residence in Libya — a tradition which predates the 1990s rebellion — and are quick to praise the wisdom of “the Guide” and affirm their desire for peace, without doing much else.

The thing that’s interesting about Aghali Alambo, Amoumoune Kalakouwa, and Rhissa Ag Boula, is the degree of continuity. All these men either fought or have close family who were founding members of the 1990s rebellion, coming from disaffected Tuareg who had fled to refugee camps in Libya during the famines of the 1970s and 80s. These men were recruited into the Libyan military and served that state in Chad and elsewhere. Alambo’s father and Kalakouwa’s uncles were with Ag Boula in these camps, and joined their sons, nephews and brothers in the confused factionalised insurgency across northern Niger.

When the 1990s rebellion ended, men like Ag Boula and Alambo were integrated into the Nigerien political system and became players in a complicated web of clan, family, and party politics. The leaders of the revolt had real political and personal agendas, which may have been wildly at variance with the ideological and personal motivations of those who did the fighting and dying.

Alambo became Prefect of the Uranium mining town of Arlit, arguably the most important civil post in the most important city in Northern Niger. He also became head of a lucrative tourist agency arranging desert adventures for European visitors, a booming business until the rebellion began. Kalakouwa was assimilated into the the military, a long tradition for influential young Tuareg, who made up the ultra-loyal “Presidential Guard” of 1960s President Hamnai Diori. Kalakouwa was in the Republican Guard, an elite paramilitary unit reporting to the Army. That unit was disbanded to become the paramilitary police FNIS in 2002-3, and its command was transfered to the interior ministry, headed by President Tandja’s loyal supporter Abouba Albade. It has become, in the recent crisis, the major arm of punishment of the regime’s political opponents.

The undoubted military commander of the MNJ, Asharif Mohamed-Almoctar, was also in the Republican Guard and the FNIS. An Arabic speaker (not a Tuareg, and not a veteran of the refugee camps), Mohamed-Almoctar deserted with a number of his troops at the beginning of 2007, and was responsible for most of the military victories of the MNJ. His death at the end of 2008 coincided with the end large scale combat by rebels.

This may go some way to explain why the Tuareg revolt of 2007-2009 collapsed so precipitously. By many accounts the Nigerien military repeated its horrific behavior of the 1990s across Tuareg communities in the north, destroying civilian settlements, slaughtering or maiming en masse precious livestock, and killing an untold number of civilians. Videos and photos were circulated showing burned villages, ransacked homes, bound corpses, and Tuareg herdsmen comforting camels whose achilies tendons had been systematically cut. It seems more than strange that two years of denouncing the Niamey government for engaging in “genocide” and comparing their leaders to Hitler, the Tuareg rebels would be so eager for negotiation that they would claim “neutrality” on issues of the government’s seizure of power.

The Tuareg population of the Air have real grievances, even if they had fewer at the beginning of 2007. But those in charge of the rebel movement seem to have had very different and very personal motivations for launching the revolt, likely involving the governments of Niger, Libya, and France, and politically connected interests in Niamey. The French uranium mining consortia AREVA which has dominated the Nigerien export economy since independence, and whose contracts were expiring in 2007, was pressured by the fighting, but so were its potential competitors, notably Chinese state companies. The chaos benefited president Tandja, and those of his family and friends who acted as fixers for the wave of new mining and oil contracts that came with the end of the French monopoly. It also — in the end — benefited France, whose new mining contracts ensure their huge network of nuclear plants have fuel, and that the lights stay on in Paris.

One other aspect of the conflict that remains shady is the massive campaign of land mines laid throughout Niger, some far from the actual fighting. The government trumpeted the civilian deaths by mine as proof of rebel barbarity. The MNJ said repeatedly that it never mined civilian roads, and that these mines were Chinese provided anti-personnel mines laid by the government. A brief mine campaign in late 2007 saw attacks far outside the conflict zone. Among the strange victims were the influential founder of an opposition radio station who had been repeatedly jailed by Tandja’s government, and an Army intelligence officer with ties to the former Massinarra regime, both killed on back streets of Niamey. Rumors at the time claimed the rebels were offering large cash sums for anyone who laid one of their mines. How they transported cash and mines so far from the conflict zone was never addressed.

As for the Libyans? We know at least the Qadhafi has played his role as peace bringer in both Niger and Mali to the hilt, ignoring the fact that both rebel movements had previously used Libya as a safe haven. It seems unlikely that the Libyans, who seemingly can bring two years of fighting completely to an end with a month of intervention, haven’t benefited somehow.

We wait for answers.

Next time: little noted personnel changes in the Niger military and police shore up the government. But are they right to be concerned about a coup? See Niger: Personnel Changes Pt. II

UPDATE: In a communique published on a European Tuareg blog, posted September 4th and signed by Alambo and Kalakouwa, the MNJ leadership has reputedly disowned the statement that Alambo has been removed.  The statement, allegedly transmitted from the Tamgak massif base of the MNJ — even though Alambo was last seen in Sirte, Libya — claims that this was the work of “the Web Master” of the blog, presumably MNJ’s longtime European coordinator Ahmed Akoli.

The statement says:

Much to the amazement of our fighters and sympathizers, members of the movement on holiday in Libya, with the complicity of the web master of the blog, have circulated on it a statement announcing the dismissal of Mr Aghali ag Alambo, President of Movement Nigerians for Justice.
…the Executive of the MNJ would like to reassure supporters that the organizational structures will remain unchanged until the meeting of its governing bodies. Finally, the MNJ informs national and international opinion of the closure of MNJ blog until further notice.Therefore any information that is published on 1 September 2009 does not bind the movement.

So who knows who’s still in the MNJ, but the European arm seems to have splintered.  Regardless, the MNJ is clearly a spent force, falling over itself to make peace, after so precipitously launching a war which cost the lives of so many of its own community at the hands of the government.  The motives of its leadership still remain unclear.

UPDATE 24 August: Nigerien Civil society activist Marou Amadou remains in arbitrary detention.  According to the BBC he has been beaten in custody.  Several other opposition activists arrested for protesting the coup remain in custody.  Police have attacked peaceful protests, most recently on 22 August in Niamey, at which several opposition leaders were arrested.  Also on 22 August Wada Maman, Secretary General of the “Front Uni pour la Sauvegarde des Acquis Démocratiques” (FUSAD), Board Member and Secretary General of the “Association Nigérienne de Lutte contre la Corruption” (ANLC), was detained by the military while waiting for a Niamey bus.  He is being held without charge or representation.

Please demand the release of these activists.
A sample letter, addresses, and statements by Nigerien and international rights groups are below.
Further links to background material follows sample letter and statements.

==Independent statement=====
PLEASE COPY, SIGN, AND EMAIL, PRINT OR FAX TO THE ADDRESSES BELOW. EMAILS ARE EASY BUT PAPER LETTERS AND FAXES MAKE A STRONGER IMPACT.

cc: missionduniger@gmail.com, webmestre@assemblee.ne, pneniger@gmail.com, ambanigeracanada@rogers.com, embassyofniger@ioip.com, ambassadeniger@hotmail.com
——sample letter——–

24 August 2009

To the honorable representatives of the Republic of Niger,

We deplore the recent wave of arrests by the government of Niger and the use of force to disperse peaceful protests.  We demand the immediate release of all political prisoners, an end to political prosecutions, and a return to the rule of law and respect for human rights.

Nigerien authorities must respect dissent and their own constitution.  The people of Niger have suffered too much since the struggle for democracy in 1991 to allow a handful of the powerful to return their nation to autocracy.

We support the rights of civil society and opposition groups to protest and assemble, and we support the general strike of the Nigerien labour confederations, the CDTN, CGSL-N, CNT, UGTN, UGSEIN, USPT, and the USTN.

We condemn the arrest of dissident journalists and the arbitrary closure of opposition press;

We condemn the arrests and use of force against peaceful protesters in on the day of the 4 August referendum, and in Niamey and elsewhere both before and after 4 August;

We condemn the use of force against those using peaceful civil disobedience on the day of the 4 August referendum in Illea and elsewhere on 4 August;

We condemn the arrests of opposition activists between 1 and 5 August, including:
*Zakari Oumarou, opposition leader, arrested and arbitrarily detained at Konni;
*Amadou Nomao, Deputy of the National Assembly, arrested and arbitrarily detained at Badaguichiri;
*Alhousseini Ousmane and Elhadj Idrissa Maïgoro, opposition members arrested at Tahoua;
*Dr. Douma, opposition member arrested at Ayorou;

We condemn the arrest between 4 and 11 August and arbitrary detention at Koutoukalé prison of opposition activist Monsieur Alassane Karfi;

We condemn the arbitrary detention by the Judiciary Police of President of the Front pour la Restauration de la Démocratie (FRD) Hamissou Moumouni;

We especially condemn the multiple arrests, unlawful detention at Koutoukalé prison and beating by FNIS (Ministry of Interior Paramilitary Police) of Marou Amadou, Vice Coordinator  of the  Collectif pour la Défense du Droit à l’énergie au Niger (CODDAE) and spokesperson of the FDD;

We condemn the unlawful detention at Koutoukalé prison beginning 22 August of  Wada Maman, Secretary General of the “Front Uni pour la Sauvegarde des Acquis Démocratiques” (FUSAD), Board Member and Secretary General of the “Association Nigérienne de Lutte contre la Corruption” (ANLC).

We condemn the prosecution of Abdoulaye Tiemogo, editor of a private satirical weekly, Le Canard Dechaine and the orchestrated campaign to silence those who question the financial dealings of those close to the President of Niger.

Rest assured that the people of the world stand by the people of Niger is their demands for democracy, rule of law, judicial Independence, and economic transparency.  The truth will come out, and the people of Niger will judge not only the behavior of their government, but those who failed to act in the defense of law.

With the deepest respect for your great nation,

Signed (Your Name)

=======Ends===========

Addresses:
=====================
TO: Ambassador of the Republic of Niger to the United States, S.E.M Toure Aminata Djibrilla Maiga

Embassy of the Republic of Niger
2204 R Street, NW,
Washington DC 20008

Phone: (202) 483-4224
Fax: (202) 483-3169
Email: embassyofniger@ioip.com, ambassadeniger@hotmail.com
Website: http://ambassadeniger@hotmail.com

—-
TO: Ambassador of the Republic of Niger to Canada, S.E.M Nana Aicha FOUMAKOYE

Embassy of Niger in Ottawa, Canada
38 Blackburn Avenue
Ottawa
Ontario K1N 8A3

Phone: (+1) (613) 232-4291 / 2
Fax: (+1) (613) 230-9808

Email: ambanigeracanada@rogers.com
Website: http://www.ambanigeracanada.ca

—-
TO: President of the Republic of Niger, Tandja Mamadou
Office of the President
Palais Présidentiel
BP 550
Niamey
Niger
Fax: + 227 20 73 34 30

email: pneniger@gmail.com
Website: http://www.presidence.ne/contacts.php

Secrétariat Directeur de Cabinet
Telephone:  + 227 20-72-24-72
Directeur de Cabinet Adjoint
Telephone:  + 227 20-72-36-67

—-
TO: Prime Minister of the Republic of Niger, Seini Oumarou;
Monsieur le Premier Ministre, Chef du Gouvernement ;
Email: webmestre@assemblee.ne
Fax : + 227 20 73 58 59

TO: M. Garba Lompo, Ministre de la Justice,
Fax : +227 20 72 37 77

TO: M. Albade Aboufa, Ministre de l’Intérieur,
Fax: + 227 20 72 21 76

TO: Mission permanente du Niger auprès de l’Union européenne,
Fax : + 32 2 648 27 84

TO: Ambassadeur M. Adani Illo, Mission permanente du Niger auprès des Nations unies à Genève,
Avenue du Lignon 36 (2ème étage), 1219 Le Lignon, Suisse.
Fax: +41 22 979 24 51.
Email: missionduniger@gmail.com

====END ADDRESSES=====

=======Transparency International Statement========
Anti-corruption leader arrested in Niger as civil society faces increased intimidation
Berlin, 24 August 2009

Transparency International (TI) is seriously concerned about the arrest in Niger, of Wada Maman, Board Member and Secretary General of TI chapter, the Association Nigérienne de Lutte contre la Corruption (ANLC)
*http://www.transparency.org/news_room/latest_news/press_releases/2009/2009_08_24_niger_intimidation

=======Ends===========

=======Publish What You Pay statement===============

Action Alert: PWYP calls on the Nigerien government to end all forms of harassment against civil society leader Marou Amadou
Source: PWYP International – Action Alert
Date: 13 Aug 2009

http://www.publishwhatyoupay.org/en/resources/action-alert-pwyp-calls-nigerien-government-end-all-forms-harassment-against-civil-society

PWYP strongly condemns the transfer into police custody of Marou Amadou, president of the United Front for the Safeguard of Democratic Assets (FUSAD), coordinator of the Advisory and Orientation Committee for the Defence of Democratic Rights (CROISADE), and member of the Réseau des Organisations pour la Transparence et l’Analyse Budgetaire (ROTAB) – Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Niger.

According to ROTAB/PWYP Niger, Marou Amadou was discharged on Tuesday, 12 August 2009 after appearing before the Court of First Instance in Niamey, where he had been summoned for “inciting disobedience of defense and security forces” and “regionalist propaganda”, following his arrest on 10 August 2009 by the Nigerien Judicial Police.

PWYP condemns Marou Amadou’s forced transfer into police custody just hours after a court had ordered his release.

PWYP therefore demands that the discharge decision be respected and calls for the immediate release of Marou Amadou.

PWYP urges the Nigerien authorities to guarantee Marou Amadou’s physical and moral integrity.

PWYP calls on President Mamadou Tandja to ensure an end to all forms of harassment and intimidation against Marou Amadou and civil society activists in Niger, and to guarantee freedom of speech and of the press in accordance with the international human rights standards Niger has committed itself to.

Actions Required:

PWYP asks that you write to the Nigerien authorities, Nigerien diplomatic representatives and to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in your respective countries to draw their attention to your concerns and forward them this statement

=======Ends===========

=======Frontline Defenders Statement=======
Niger: Detention of human rights defender Mr Marou Amadou
2009/08/17
(Sample letter included)

http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/2128/action

=======OMCT Statement=======
*Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture
Relaxe et disparition forcée de M. Marou Amadou Niger 11 août 2009

http://omct.org/index.php?id=OBS&lang=fr&actualPageNumber=1&articleSet=Appeal&articleId=8737

====Ends=====

Further links:

*News Reports on the arrest of Marou Amadou
**http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5isewxWl32nJBbl2UP0n3QYpCKSYA
**http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2009-08-10-voa36.cfm
** BBC NEWS | Africa | Niger opposition figure ‘beaten’ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8197439.stm

* Transparency International Statement (22 August)

http://appablog.wordpress.com/2009/08/24/anti-corruption-leader-arrested-in-niger-as-civil-society-faces-increased-intimidation/

* Collectif pour la Défense du Droit à l’énergie au Niger (CODDAE) statement   (Francais)

http://coddae.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92:declaration-de-presse-relative-a-larrestation-du-camarade-marou-amadou-pour-atteinte-a-la-surete-de-letat&catid=1:actualite&Itemid=50

*  Opposition decalration 11 August http://pnds-tarayya.net/news/news.php?id=41
DÉCLARATION DU 11 AOÛT 2009 La Coordination des Forces pour la Démocratie et la République (CFDR)  (Francais)

*  Opposition decalaration on 4 August arrests
http://pnds-tarayya.net/news/news.php?id=38  (Francais)

*NIGER-En réaction à l’arrestation du président du Fusad, Amnesty international exige la libération de Amadou Arou
le Quotidien (Senegal) 19 August.

http://issikta.blogspot.com/2009/08/niger-en-reaction-larrestation-du.html

* Areva/Niger: organisation exposing links between the French Uranium consortia and the government of Niger  (Francais) http://areva.niger.free.fr/

*Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2009 – Niger

http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4a5f300dc.html

*Nigerien Labor Confederations joint 72 hour strike, 23 August

http://www.tamtaminfo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2073:preavis-de-greve-generale-de-72-heures-&catid=44:politique&Itemid=61

*Nigerien news articles  (Francais)
*http://www.tamtaminfo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2072:affaire-marou-amadou-le-proces-des-collectifs-associatifs&catid=44:politique&Itemid=61
*http://www.tamtaminfo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1976:vague-darrestation-dans-les-rangs-des-opposants&catid=44:politique&Itemid=61
*http://www.tamtaminfo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2005:-communique-de-presse&catid=44:politique&Itemid=61
*http://www.tamtaminfo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2007:proces-marou-amadou-et-abdoulaye-tiemogo-des-militants-de-la-cfdr-copieusement-tabasses&catid=44:politique&Itemid=61

*Niger: Les manifestants de l’opposition dispersés par les forces de l’ordre, 22 August.  (Francais)

http://fr.allafrica.com/stories/200908240223.html

*Niger: La matraque du colonel, 23 August. (Francais)

http://fr.allafrica.com/stories/200908240166.html

*Updates in English:

http://www.tomathon.com/mphm/

The President of Niger releases his “new” constitution. Can the opposition slow him down?

President Tandja Mamadou‘s aspiration to be President for life got a bit more clear today, with the release of his proposed Constitution of the 6th Republic of Niger. His plan for a 4 August referendum, opposed by political parties, civil society, and every other body of the republic, is set to go ahead.

The planned Constitution of the Sixth Republic of Niger, released today, contains no real surprises. It gives Tandja a “free” term as President until 2012 elections, and no term limits after this. A Senate is created to complement a smaller National Assembly. The unconditional amnesty is for the coup leaders who brought on the 199 elections Tandja won is extended. This will be the end of the support for Tandja by the RDP-JAMA’A, the party of the assassinated President Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara (himself a coup leader) who Tandja replaced in 1999. That leaves only a couple of tiny parties supporting Tandja. Which I’m sure he’s fine with, should he muscle his new constitution through.

That’s because the most striking thing about this proposed constitution is what’s not there: any checks on the President’s powers. Having read though the 1999 Constitution on a number of occasions, this new document seems like someone went through the previous document with a marker and crossed out any references to the powers of every other constitutional body, and replaced it with “The President may decree” or “to be regulated by future law” (which the President will decree). He appoints the courts, he ratifies treaties, chooses members of commissions and offices, he can create constitutional changes through plebiscite whenever he so chooses. Let me make this clear, this is not the constitution of Presidential Republic: it’s the blueprint of a dictatorship.

Tandja,

And it would be funny if it were not so sad. Reading though it, I couldn’t help but think of the Franco-Nigerien comedian Mamane’s stories about the “Very Very Democratic Republic of Gondwana” (“République très très démocratique du Gondwana”), and its faultless “President-Founder.”

It parallels a much less comic state, the Republic of Congo, whose President Sassou-Nguesso is already projected winner in the first round of an election which will take place two days in the future. Congo-Brazzaville and Gabon are Tandja’s models for Niger, with Uranium replacing oil.

Congolese blogger “Pangolin” printed a satire yesterday that is more anger than laughter: “The Single Candidate heads to a singular victory in a single round.”

Niamey today, like contemporary Brazzaville, or like a very unfunny “Gondwana City” has that same degree of malevolent surrealism, where everything is so clearly a cardboard front for an intolerant government, but no one dares say so.

The Nigerien state Paper/Broadcaster Le Sahel is a prime example. Always bland, Le Sahel has slipped into unreality, leading with meetings of minor bureaucrats and school exams. It’s as much reminiscent of Pyongyang as it is Mamane’s comic “Radio Y’a foï”, an Ivorian slang title meaning “Radio Everything’s Fine”.

But things are not fine.  And while President-Founder of the Sixth Republic Tandja may be isolated, no one yet has found a way to stop him. We’ll soon see if anyone can.

• Read the Proposed Constitution on French WikiSource.
• Le Pagolin Blog at Afrikblog
• Mamane at RFI. Download podcasts of his radio series, including his letters from “République très très démocratique du Gondwana.”

• Congo Republic’s Sassou set for easy re-election

• Niger referendum critics plan to boycott, block vote 10 July 2009, Reuters, Abdoulaye Massalatchi
• Niger moves to ‘gag’ media ahead of referendum. 09 July 2009 Pana News
• Une crise touche de plein fouet le parti au pouvoir. RFI, 09 July 2009
• Niger : La justice annule un congrès du parti au pouvoir. AFP 9 July 2009
• Niger referendum aims to bring back ‘democracry’: minister. AFP 7 July 2009
• Electoral commission boss quits ahead of controversial referendum.  AFP 07 July 2009
• Niger opposition members quit electoral agency. AFP 08 July 2009
• Niger : Une partie de l’opposition claque la porte de la Ceni. RFI, 08 July 2009

Related articles by Zemanta

• Low Turnout May Mar Congo Republic Election (nytimes.com)
• Congo poll to open amid veto call (news.bbc.co.uk)
• Niger ‘must return to democracy’ (news.bbc.co.uk)
• Niger’s President Extends Tenure (nytimes.com)

UPDATE: Carnet de Voyage : Mamane existe, je l’ai rencontré.  Adam Thiam, Le Républicain,  (Bamako) 05/10/2009

While reporters continue to carefully attribute the title “Coup d’Etat” to leaders of Niger’s opposition, events of the last 24 hours make it hard to spin the current situation in any other way.

The last day saw the first arrest of an opposition leader (Marou Amadou, left), the “liquidation” of the Constitutional Court, the closure of a main opposition media outlet, and a carefully staged press release from the Ministry of Defense.

In particular, the closure of the Constitutional Court is in no way within the 1999 constitution. Last night’s statement announcing the “abrogation of the appointments” of each of the court’s seven judges stated that “les dispositions des articles 104, 105, 106 et 107 de la Constitution du 09 août 1999 sont temporairement suspendues.” According, supposedly, to Article 53 of the Constitution, which nowhere gives any body the right to suspend other parts of the document.

Article 53

After consulting with the Prime Minister, the President of the National Assembly, the President of the Constitutional Court and the President of the Supreme Court, the President of the Republic shall take exceptional measures when the institutions of the Republic, the nation’s independence, its territorial integrity or the execution of international obligations are threatened by a grave and immediate danger and when the normal functioning of Constitutional public powers has been interrupted. He shall report to the nation regarding any such exceptional measures. If the National Assembly is not in session, it shall reconvene without need of sanction. Such exceptional measures must be inspired by the desire to assure to constitutionally granted public authorities those means of accomplishing their mission within the shortest period of time. In no case shall the National Assembly be dissolved during the exercise of exceptional powers. The National Assembly shall assess by an absolute majority of its members the duration of the exercise of exceptional powers and shall terminate it in case of abuse.

Article 105

The members of the Constitutional Court are inviolable during the duration of their mandate. They may not be questioned or detained without the authorization of the Constitutional Court, except in case of flagrant offence (“sauf cas de flagrant délit”) In case the President of the Constitutional Court can be held for no more than 48 hours.

Article 113

Any person involved in a court case may query the constitutionality of a law before any court of law by exceptional remedy. The latter must defer its ruling until the decision of the Constitutional Court, a decision that must be reached within thirty days. A clause declared unconstitutional on the basis of the above paragraph is null and void by right. The ruling of the Constitutional Court instituting this unconstitutionality is published in the Government Gazette in accordance with the emergency procedure.

Article 115

No appeal can be made against the decrees of the Constitutional Court. They are binding on the government and all administrative, civil, military and legal authorities.

So any argument that these are constitutional means is a fiction.

As if this wasn’t enough, the publishing of the last statement by the mass opposition group FDD (Front de Défense de la Démocratie) has led to the first arrest of opponents. Marou Amadou, long time Human Rights campaigner, journalist, head of the anti-Tandja group Fusad, (Front uni pour la sauvegarde des acquis démocratiques), and spokesman for main opposition coalition of parties, unions, and collectives, was arrested Monday night. He read the FDD statement that called on public officials to obey Article 13 of the Constitution which demands they not carry out unlawful orders, on opposition Dounia TV. The radio/TV station, close to the supporters of former PM Hama Amadou and a longtime irritant to Tandja’s people, was then indefinately shut down by the government.

In a press conference later Albadé Abouba, the Minister of the Interior, hinted darkly that the entire opposition front may be outlawed. “To my knowledge, according to the Constitution, the Charter of Political Parties, and the laws regulating associations, it is not legal the form such an organization for purely political activities”, said the minister, noting the make up of the front, which contains over sixty trades unions, political parties, and human rights groups. “All these, they can’t dress themselves in a [false] legality and then accuse others of acting as illegally as they are.”

Despite this, the FDD has called a general strike for Wednesday, and political groups are to hold a mass rally on Saturday. It’s hard to see that arresting leaders would do anything but inflame tensions. And perhaps that’s what some of Tandja’s cronies want.

Finally a carefully worded statement out of the Ministry of Defense (whose chief was the only of the eight CDS-RAHAMA members not to step down from the government last week) was released in the name of the Armed Forces of Niger (FAN). In it they criticized anyone calling on them to take sides and said they would play no part in the crisis. Except that they will follow the Presidents orders. Or so the statement says. Some are interpreting this as how deeply in Tandja’s pocket the military brass are. One might also argue, if this really was drafted by the government for the military spokesman to read, that this is one more abuse of the kind that brought on the 74 coup. But that coup was a long time coming and followed a decade of misrule and backroom humiliations. Any general on the take over the last ten years must know that they’ve tied their fate to Tandja, at least for the moment.

They might be reminded that dictators can never retire in their own nations, and their passing becomes dangerous for their past supporters.

ALSO: The French Diplomatic Ministry has this lukewarm condemnation of Tandja’s taking power, though they don’t use the Coup word. I’ve seen nothing from the US or Canada. Jean Ping made an emergency visit to Niamey on Monday, ahead of an AU meeting in Libya Wednesday. Wednesday, with the strike in Niamey and AU statements on his behavior could be a bad day for Tandja, though one he should weather. It will be the pressure that’s put on those who have to carry out his orders which will decide this, and that may be weeks in coming to a head.

Other links, including some thoughtful and up to date opinion pieces from African observers:

• Google’s ongoing aggregation of the press
• M. Zamanka, Le Canard déchaîné N°384 (Niamey).  Echec du projet référendaire de Tandja Un seul choix : partir…, 29 juin 2009.
• Franck Baku (Kinshasa). Mamadou Tandja : la folie des grandeurs, 30 juin 2009.
• Sylvio Combey (Togo). KOFI YAMGNANE : “LE PRESIDENT NIGERIEN PREND LE RISQUE DE FAIRE EXPLOSER SON PAYS”, 30 juin 2009.
• Isidore Dokpa. Niger : Destitution tout azimut, Tandja a franchi le Rubicon, 30 juin 2009.
• Florent COUAO-ZOTTI (Tchaian in Cotonou). Chronique sur la situation politique nigérienne, 30 juin 2009.
• Jean Claude KONGO (Le Pays, Burkina).  SORTIE DE CRISE AU NIGER : Les trois scénarios catastrophes, 30 juin 2009.
• R.D. Niger : un cas exemplaire de « démocratie de résultats », 30 juin 2009.

UPDATE: 8:40 GMT. A report says main opposition leader, former Prime Minister, and head of the IS affiliate PNDS-Tarayya party,  Mahamadou Issoufou, has been arrested.

• Confirmed by Reuters, Issoufou was bundled off the the Gendarmerie in Niamey Tuesday afternoon. Arrested from the party offices after nightfall.  He was released two hours later after a crowd had gathered to protest at the Gendarmerie.

This one image sums up the — still — late Omar Bongo Ondimba better than any words could. If you want to see where the postcolonials learned their tricks, look to their models. Omar Bongo (née Albert-Bernard Bongo) was French through and through, like Mitterrand with a sense of style, or like a shorter Félix Houphouët-Boigny with more oil and a better car.

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Julien Coupet, French situationalist shopkeeper, accused ringleader of “anarcho-autonomous” train saboteurs, and really insufferable pontificator, was finally released yesterday from a Paris jail, on remand.

He is still detained, in that he can’t leave the Paris area, and will probably be further harassed by prosecutors. That he’s done nothing illegal will likely mean that he will get to go home soon. His partner (romantic, literary, not “in crime”) was released several months ago without charge, as were the remaining seven in the weeks after their detention.

This is likely due to the fact there was absolutely no evidence of them having shorted electrical wires on several train lines.  At different ends of the country. During a strike. By rail workers who know how to handle rail infrastructure. But Coupat had set up a commune/corner store in the picturesque Central Massif village of Tarnac, and likely wrote some merciless books about, well, having read bits, its still hard to tell. But they said the state/capitalism/going to work was bad, and the current order was doomed. (DOOOMED!)  A premise neither original nor untrue,  they did include a fantasy about sabotaging rail lines.

Unfortunately, the Minister of the Interior (who’s since been sacked) had some idee fixe about something she’d named “anarcho-autonomous” terrorists.  It was a concept she’d invented, but some people thought it might be cool to pretend to be such people, I can only assume, in order to get laid. Then she had random people arrested.

A number of Coupat’s supporters remain under arrest for sabotaging things at a protest of his detention, and some for distributing fliers with private details of the “intelligence” official involved. Luckily a coalition of neighbors, activists, even the town’s mayor (a Communist) have been unwavering in their support for the original nine arrestees.  The coalition included Jose Bove, who I think is on the right side of every issue, including facial hair.

Even the press, after building itself into an foaming frenzy in the days after the rail disruptions, seem to have realized how unlikely to be terrorists these folks are. And it helped that the incidents themselves couldn’t be called terrorism by anyone — outside government — while keeping a straight face and without inserting the term in quotation marks.

Julien, shortly before his release, provided an interview to that most bourgeois of papers, Le Monde, in which he generally professed his innocence, as well as talking about Hegel. Then he got two new lawyers, and ten days later was released.

A similar translated postal interview on libcom.org gives the anglophone world a taste of this dangerous terrorist’s concerns.

Q. You come from a very well-to-do background, which oriented you in another direction. . .

A. “There are plebes in all classes.” (Hegel).

Q. Why Tarnac?

A. Go there, you will understand. If you don’t, no one could explain it to you, I fear.

Q. Do you define yourself as an intellectual? A philosopher?

A. Philosophy was born like chatty grief from original wisdom. Plato already heard the words of Heraclitus as if they had escaped from a bygone world. In the era of diffused intellectuality, one can’t see what “the intellectual” might make specific, unless it is the expanse of the gap that separates the faculty of thinking from the aptitude for living. Intellectual and philosopher are, in truth, sad titles. But for whom exactly is it necessary to define oneself?

Several lessons here:

1) Don’t talk crap about sabotaging things. It’s idiotic, especially as the police would rather arrest people who talk crap than investigate things.

2) Never underestimate the desire of those in charge to look like they’re doing something without actually doing any work. If this involves them sending their goons out to bust the heads of intellectuals, so much the better.

3) Show solidarity when people are under arrest, even if they did daft things to get there, but don’t do daft things yourself to make a point. The Clash song about “the British Army waiting out there weighing fifteen hundred tonnes” springs to mind here.

4) Once people like Julien Coupat are released, make fun of them mercilessly, while always remembering that we need a world in which people are free to be pompous blowhards, but not one that gives other pompous blowhards the right to arrest the merely annoying in the name of law, order, and the defense of rich folks.

P.S.: You can, of course, visit Julien Coupat’s Facebook page. If he’s a real situationalist, he’ll appreciate you posting Miley Cyrus videos on a much deeper level than you.

“If a crocodile buys a pair of trousers,  don’t ask where he puts his tail.”

or

“Si le crocodile achète un pantalon, c’est qu’il a trouvé où mettre sa queue.”

Supposedly a Bambara proverb, that’s more literally “…he’s already figured out where to put his tail”, so don’t ask.  He’s thought this out, and if you’re wise you’ll just steer clear.  It was a headline on a Tuareg blog about the President of Niger.  I’m guessing it wasn’t supposed to be flattering, but I can’t help but think of the Toucouleur saying: “If you live in the river, don’t make enemies of the crocodiles.”

The latest news on the Tarnac arestees.  Four of the nine are released under the equivilent of bail, but still face possible charges.  They were held four four days of interogations, though the police still don’t seem to have any direct evidence against any of them.  Five (which the predictably frantic Le Figaro calls “The Hard Core” of situationalist students) remain in jail awaiting trial.  Le Monde has a surprisingly sensitive portrait of the ordeal of one of the four released, and identifies each of the arrestees.  The charges remain the same as those in the last post here.

Those facing the heaviest charges, and still detained are:

• Julien Coupat (34) accused ringleader
• Yldune L., 25, Archeolology Student
• Benjamin R., 30 , Poly Sci grad from the University of Rennes and former student of Development and environmental Sociology at the University of Edinburgh.
• Elsa H., 23  English Grad student arrested in Rouen,
• Bertrand D., 22 Sociology Grad student, also arrested in Rouen.

The four released but possibly facing lesser though serious charges are:

• Gabrielle H., 29 , a student nurse,
• Manon G., 25, a prize winning classically trained clarinetist,
• Aria T., 26, a Swiss actress known for her role in the sitcom Les Pique-Meurons.
• Mathieu B., 27, a former sociology student from the Parisien Ecole des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS).

While we await the trial, the SNCF workers rallied in Paris against rail priviatisation plans, staged a work stoppage, and forced the SNCF to back off of some of its more objectionable proposals. 

Le Figaro, who have been the most energetic in convicting these nine students without trial, was also caught out today Liberation, for photoshoping a picture of law-and-order Justice Minister Rachida Dati to remove the huge diamond encrusted ring from her iron hands: a ring reportedly worth a cool 15,600 Euros!