By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa

NIAMEY, Niger – Niger rights activist, Marou Amadou, has been arrested twice in one week.  Some suspect the new claims have been falsified in order to silence his protest.

Amadou has been placed in police custody and will faces new charges after having been jailed and then released on Tuesday.   He was originally arrested for calling for a protest against President Mamadou Tandja’s extension of his hold on power in a controversial referendum on extending presidential term limits.

Reports from Niamey say that while Amadou was preparing to leave the Niamey prison he was picked up by armed men in pick-up trucks.  He was subsequently faced with new charges claiming that created an illegal association.  This comes of course after he was released from custody on Tuesday for breaching state security, only to be released a day later.

Fellow activist say that when they saw Amadou through the prison gates he looked to have sustained injuries.

Justice Minister, Lompo Garba, reassured sources by saying that the government in Niamey was “at work, conducting investigations on the allegations of torture against Marou Amandou.”

Amadou’s activist group is called the United Front for the Protection of Democracy (FUSAD).  The group is allied to opposition parties that have been campaigning against a new constitution that extends Mr. Tandja’s term by three years.  The new constitution was approved earlier this month in a referendum that allows the president to run in subsequent elections, potentially giving him the opportunity to stay in power for life.

The European Union and France have both criticized this referendum and called on Niger to restore a more democratic framework.

For more information, please see:

AFP – Niger Rights Activist Faces New Charges After Release – 12 August 2009

BBC – Niger Vows Inquiry into “Beating” – 12 August 2009

VOA – Niger Opposition Vows to Continue Challenging President Tandja – 12 August 2009