African Union suspends Niger, asks the list of all coup leaders for targeted sanctions
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African Union suspends Niger from the continental bloc with immediate effect over the coup, prepares to sanction the juntas
African Union suspends Niger from the continental bloc with immediate effect over the coup, prepares to sanction the juntas.
The African Union (AU) has suspended Niger from all its activities following last month’s military coup there and told its members to avoid any action that might legitimise the junta.
The decision, announced on Tuesday after a meeting of the AU’s Peace and Security Council in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, comes after several Western countries cut aid to Niger due to a July 26 coup that overthrew President Mohamed Bazoum.
The AU Peace and Security Council said in a communique on Tuesday that it had noted ECOWAS’s decision to activate a standby force and asked the AU Commission to assess the economic, social, and security implications of deploying such a force.
It also said it had asked the AU Commission to compile a list of members of the junta and their supporters for targeted sanctions and “the application of individual punitive measures”.
The resolutions in Tuesday’s statement were adopted at a council meeting held on Aug. 14, it said.
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The AU reiterated calls for the coup leaders to immediately release elected President Mohamed Bazoum, who has been detained since the coup, and return to their barracks.
However, the Niger junta has resisted pressure to stand down and on Saturday proposed a three-year timeline to organise elections, a plan which ECOWAS rejected.
ECOWAS has already imposed broad sanctions on Niger, which the AU endorsed.
ECOWAS said the use of force would be the “last resort” after exhausting diplomatic channels for negotiation. On Monday, it rejected a proposal by Niger’s military government to hold elections within three years.
However, the AU said it was reviewing ECOWAS’s plan of action and called on all member states and the international community to not undertake any action to legitimise Niger’s military government.
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