West Africa: Civilians Unprotected in Conflicts Crackdowns on Dissent, Civic Space; Fewer Opportunities for Justice NAIROBI, Kenya, January 16, 2025/APO Group/ -- Armed groups and government forces in West Africa have committed atrocities with impunity in 2024, with thousands of dead and injured, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. For the 546-page world report, in its 35th edition, Human Rights Watch reviewed human rights practices in more than 100 countries. In much of the world, Executive Director Tirana Hassan writes in her introductory essay, governments cracked down and wrongfully arrested and imprisoned political opponents, activists, and journalists. Armed groups and government forces unlawfully killed civilians, drove many from their homes, and blocked access to humanitarian aid. In many of the more than 70 national elections in 2024, authoritarian leaders gained ground with their discriminatory rhetoric and policies. “Civilians have borne the brunt of the fighting between government forces and armed groups,” said Mausi Segun, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The African Union and other regional bodies should scale up scrutiny of rights abusers and take concrete measures to better protect civilians caught amid the fighting.” There has been no accountability for abuses committed in the armed conflicts involving Islamist armed groups in the Sahel and Nigeria, fostered by weak political responses from regional and international bodies. The violence, including hundreds of abductions by armed groups, has displaced millions of people and led to widespread destruction of critical infrastructure.

In Nigeria, economic reforms have contributed to high inflation, triggering the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in 30 years. Without a comprehensive, rights-based social security system, millions have been pushed deeper into poverty. The authorities responded with a heavy hand to protests, killing several protesters and arresting and charging scores more.
In July, a Guinean court finally issued a verdict finding crimes against humanity against Guinea’s former self-declared president, Moussa Dadis Camara, and seven others in a landmark domestic trial for the brutal September 28, 2009 stadium massacre in Conakry, the capital, in which more than 150 people were killed and scores of women were raped. This is the first time crimes against humanity have been prosecuted in Guinea. This trial is a rare example of domestic accountability and can contribute to future justice efforts in Guinea and beyond.
The authorities in Burkina Faso have intensified their crackdown on dissent through arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances, and unlawful conscription. Activists and government critics faced similar abuses in Mali, Niger, and Nigeria. These governments have undermined fundamental rights and freedoms and deepened the sense of insecurity across the region.
Governments in the Sahel further shrunk media and political space. Burkina Faso and Niger suspended several media outlets. Mali and Niger have adopted laws imposing excessive restrictions on basic freedoms, including creating databases that undermine fundamental rights.
Opportunities for victims of abuses to seek justice became fraught in the Sahel, with the withdrawal of Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger from the Economic Community of West African States, which will take effect in February 2025. This erodes regional mechanisms for accountability and redress and signals a broader deterioration in regional cooperation to address the escalating abuses and security challenges facing civilians in the Sahel.

“The authorities in Nigeria and the Sahel used unchecked power to commit rights violations with impunity,” Segun said. “These governments and their partners, in Africa and beyond, should publicly disavow intolerance for dissent, promote the protection of rights, and ensure justice for victims of abuses.” Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).