Niger: HRW denounces Moussa Kaka’s enforced disappearance
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Tchadinfos
Human Rights Watch accuses Nigerien authorities of keeping journalist Moussa Kaka in enforced disappearance and calls on them to reveal his place of detention. The director of a private television station has been missing since 31 August and was declared detained in October, according to HRW and information from Reporters Without Borders.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has described the case of Nigerien journalist Moussa Kaka as an « enforced disappearance » and called on the authorities to immediately reveal his place of detention. The organisation also demanded that his safety be guaranteed and that he be released unless he is prosecuted for a proven criminal offence, in a statement published on Thursday.
According to HRW, an enforced disappearance exposes the person concerned to an increased risk of torture and extrajudicial execution. Moussa Kaka, 66, runs Radio Télévision Saraounia (RTS), a private audiovisual media outlet, and was a correspondent for Radio France Internationale (RFI), whose broadcasts have been suspended in Niger by the military regime.
HRW’s statement came after journalists’ and human rights organisations called for an investigation and the journalist’s release. Moussa Kaka’s family had had no news of him since 31 August, before Nigerien Justice Minister Alio Daouda, quoted by Reporters Without Borders, said in early October that he was alive and being held by the authorities. This development was reported in the announcement of his detention, and was followed by a journalists’ association’s call for an investigation.
