Abass Abdoul Aziz
Abass Abdoul Aziz is a human rights defender and president of the Association de Défense des Droits Consommateurs des Technologies de l'Information, de la Communication et de l'Énergie – ACTICE (Association for the Defence of the Rights of Consumers to Information Technology, Communication and Energy), a non-governmental organisation based in Niamey, Niger. ACTICE has been advocating against corruption and the Finance Bill which is to be approved by the National Assembly in 2018. ACTICE and a number of other civil society organisations have raised concerns regarding the Finance Bill, primarily that the measures included in it will drastically increase the cost of living for many of those who are already living in poverty. ACTICE argues that the source of the current economic situation in Niger is poor management and corruption by the government and that the bill does not address this.
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.
