Ahmed Bello Issoufou
Ahmed Bello Issoufou is a human rights defender and an active member of the Tournons La Page (Let’s Turn the Page) coalition’s Niger branch. His work involves promoting human rights, advocating for civil and political rights and fighting corruption and bad governance in Niger.
Human rights defenders working on combating impunity and for social justice are targeted with judicial harassment, including pre-trial detention and trumped-up charges. The government has systematically refused authorisation for peaceful protests, based on security grounds, and has violently repressed protests in the capital Niamey, including targeting organisers and protesters with arrests and detention. In March 2017, the Nigerien government declared a state of emergency in response to further attacks by Boko Haram and renewed the state of emergency in the Diffa region. The permissions under the state of emergency have been used as a tool to further harass human rights defenders and journalists and restrict their work. In order to maintain control, the government has limited freedom of speech and of the press, which has resulted in arrests of human rights defenders without charge.
