Mamane Abou, editor of the private weekly "Le Républicain", was sentenced to six months in prison on 7 November 2003, in the capital, Niamey. "This sentence is nonsense. This journalist was only doing his job and nothing can justify such a heavy sentence. Moreover, the court did not follow the normal legal procedure. Mamane Abou was sentenced in absentia, yet he is being held at Niamey prison," Reporters sans frontières (RSF)
said in a statement.

An outbreak of cholera has killed 17 people in recent weeks in a swampy area of the Niger valley near the city of Mopti in central Mali, government officials said on Monday.

The national university of Niger has reopened after two weeks of official closure following student demonstrations earlier this month. Officials said on Monday that classes were due to resume this week. The government unexpectedly closed Abdou Moumouni national university in the capital, Niamey, on 13 October following two days of anti-government demonstrations on 8 and 9 October.

Ibrahim Sorley, managing editor of the weekly 'Le Enqueteur' was sentenced to a 12-month "suspended jail term" by the Niamey Regional Court on October 14 2003. The court also barred Sorley from staying in the capital, Niamey, for three months.

President M. Tandja Mamadou has warned independent radio stations operating in parts of the country against broadcasting any programmes "liable to disturb the social peace and public order." In a 2 October 2003 radio message to all regional ministers, municipal chief executives and district heads of public institutions, the president instructed them to "immediately invite all media heads in areas under your jurisdiction and call them to order to warn them against any act liable to endanger the peace and public order." He also threatened that "any unacceptable behaviour would be severely dealt with under the law."

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern over the continued imprisonment of Ibrahim Souley, the publication director of the private weekly "L'Enquêteur". Souley is expected to face trial on charges of spreading propaganda and "inciting ethnic hatred".

The Higher Council for Communications ordered 10 of the country's privately-owned radio stations to suspend their programming as of 25 September 2003.

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has expressed concern over the imprisonment of Ibrahim Souley, editor of the weekly "L'Enquêteur", for exposing embezzlement in the handing out of government contracts. The organisation has called for Souley's immediate release. "We do not understand why the authorities have jailed him, since he was simply doing his job of informing the public, which in no way justifies his imprisonment," said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard.

The last reserve of the rich mangrove forests in Ogoniland and other parts of Rivers State in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, is currently facing the greatest threat of its life due to a development project related to liquid gas. Please write to the Nigerian authorities protesting the development.

Their place is usually in the classrooms teaching the students and propounding theories. But early last week, lecturers mostly from the Political Science Department of the University of Ibadan (UI), were in Seminar Room 1, Conference Hall of the university, for a round table discussion on what should be added or expunged from the 1999 constitution to make it more acceptable to all genders.

Help stop the further destruction of mangrove forests in the Niger Delta by writing letters of concern to the relevant government officials.

At least 2,056 cases of meningitis including 195 deaths have been reported by the Ministry of Health in Niger and in three districts, Magaria, Aguie and Matameye, the outbreak had reached the epidemic threshold as at 9 March, the World Health Organisation reported last Thursday.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has welcomed the release from prison of Abdoulaye Tiémogo, an editor at the weekly Le Canard Déchaîné, which is based in Niger's capital, Niamey. Tiémogo, who was freed on Tuesday, February 18, after completing his eight-month prison sentence, was arrested on June 18, 2002, for allegedly defaming Prime Minister Hama Amadou in a series of unflattering opinion pieces.

With 95 percent of Niger's 10 million people depending on firewood as their main source of household fuel, there has been growing pressure on the remaining forests in the semi-arid nation.

As populations rise in the Sahel and arable land degrades, is conflict inevitable? Why are reforms of tenure law, decentralisation and the creation of new land institutions failing to reduce disputes over access to and ownership of land? Could innovative forms of arbitration bring together stakeholders to settle lasting disputes and develop sustainable forms of natural resource management?

For 40 years, international fuel companies have mercilessly polluted the oil-rich Niger Delta. Today, the region which used to be an area of natural beauty is an ecological disaster. Many of its residents - traditionally fishermen, traders and farmers - lack basic necessities like clean drinking water. Edible fish has to be imported. The same region produces some of sub-Saharan Africa's most spectacular art: fabulous sculptures, acrobatic masquerades and elaborate aquatic pageants, with boats as ornately festooned as Rose Bowl floats. These regattas are staged on rivers believed to be the home of water spirits that have the potential to secure communal well-being.

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) says it has received information about the beatings and rape of women involved in protest against oil companies operating in the Niger Delta. The OMCT said on August 8 Itsekiri, Ijaw and Ilaje women had engaged in a peaceful protest against these oil companies, claiming environmental degradation as well as substandard employment and contractual policies. Army and Navy forces had been called on to disperse the protest. Tear gas had been used and some of the women had allegedly been beaten and raped. "The information received further notes that several pregnant women had miscarriages as a result of the beatings and that one woman's breast was chopped off," said the organisation in a statement. OMCT is urging concerned parties to write to the Nigerian authorities and multi-national companies requesting that the safety of the women be guaranteed.

At least 200 women representatives of Malian non-governmental associations have met to discuss democracy and sustainable development in their country, at a conference that started last Wednesday.

The president of Niger's human rights league, Bagnou Bonkoukou, was last Thursday sentenced to a one-year jail term and a 20,000 CFA francs fine (US $30), in a case revolving around last month's mutiny in the country.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has expressed deep concern about the climate for independent journalism in Niger, following the recent arrests of two journalists and a presidential decree restricting the media.