Ali Idrissa
Testimony by Ali Idrissa at the 2013 Dublin Platform
On the 10th of August 2009, he was stopped at around six o’clock in the morning by the Judicial Police for “posing a threat to the safety of the state” and was then placed under a committal order and imprisoned at the Niamey civilian prison.
Ali Idrissa is the Coordinator of Réseau des organisations pour la transparence et l'analyse budgétaire (Network of Organisations for Budgetary Transparency and Analysis – ROTAB) and Publish What You Pay Niger (PWYP). He is also a member of the Board of Directors and the Africa Steering Committee of PWYP. He has long campaigned on issues of transparency in the mining sector.
HRDs whose work focuses on the environmental and human rights impact of the extractive industry in Niger are subjected to severe threats. In their work to denounce the lack of corporate accountability, transparency and fairness in dealings between the government and extractive industries, they have faced harassment, arbitrary arrests and detention.
President Mahamadou Issoufou was the first leader to endorse the 2011 Declaration of Table Mountain. The Declaration of Table Mountain calls on African governments to recognise the importance of freedom of the press and, crucially, highlights the necessity for the independence of the press from political and government institutions. Additionally, it calls on governments to repeal criminal defamation, criminal libel and insult laws that often restrict the work of human rights defenders. However, journalists that criticise the government or denounce human rights violations in the country are at risk, even though Article 23 of the Nigerian Constitution permits freedom of thought, opinion and expression. Some have been subjected to intimidation, physical attacks, arbitrary arrests, trumped-up charges, and unfair trials. All these threats prevent journalists from exercising their freedom of speech and expression, and for this reason they often practice self-censorship.
