NIGER: AMBASSADOR JANUARY 24 MEETING WITH GON

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 NIAMEY 000113 SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - PHUM TAG ADDED SIPDIS PLEASE PASS TO USAID E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2018 TAGS: MARR PGOV PREL EAID NG SUBJECT: NIGER: AMBASSADOR JANUARY 24 MEETING WITH GON PRIME MINISTER REF: A. NIAMEY 25 ¶B. NIAMEY 99 ¶C. 07 NIAMEY 1444 ¶D. NIAMEY 81 NIAMEY 00000113 001.4 OF 002 Classified By: AMBASSADOR BERNADETTE M. ALLEN, REASONS: 1.4 a/b/d ¶1. (U) Summary. On January 24, I met with Government of Niger (GON) Prime Minister (PM) Seini Oumarou to discuss the status of Niger,s MCA Threshold Program, human rights issues (including reports of military/police abuse of civilians and whether the GON or independent organizations were investigation such reports),security (land mine incidents, MNJ hostage-taking in Tanout, plans for regional security conference) and food security. Embassy FSN Political Assistant and the PM,s Chief of Staff were present in the meeting. ¶2. (U) I opened the meeting with a status report on the MCA Threshold Program for Niger and remarked that MCC representatives had inquired whether they should proceed with a visit to Niger, in light of the insecurity and especially the landmine incident in Niamey (ref A). I added that the Embassy receives weekly inquiries, including from MCC, about security and reports of human rights abuses. I stated that it is troubling to hear about and learn about military and police abuse of civilians, that even this past weekend an Embassy employee was stopped in a roadblock by police, pulled from his car and beaten because the policemen believed the Embassy employee was Tuareg (ref B). I asked the PM whether he has concerns that some citizens may misinterpret GON Minister of Communication Ben Omar,s call for neighborhood watch groups to enhance security in urban centers and instead take the law into their own hands. I also asked whether GON Minister of Interior Albade Adouba is making efforts to sensitize the military and police on the rule of law, as opposed to meting out their own brand of justice. I raised the matter of the prominent businessmen (Sidaghamar and others ) killed in Agadez (ref C) and inquired whether the GON was conducting an investigation. I added that if there is an investigation whether the results of the investigation would be made public. I also asked whether human rights organizations are being allowed in the North to investigate allegations or known cases of abuse. 
 ¶3. (C) The PM replied that he too has concerns about the citizens, watch groups and recalled terrible periods of ethnic violence in Nigerien history (particularly in the 1960s) that he would not wish to see repeated. He said the GON is working on sensitizing local police and military officers about rule of law to guard against officers taking revenge on citizens out of anger and belief that a particular ethnic group (in this case Tuaregs) are responsible for the deaths or injury of family members or colleagues. He acknowledged awareness of isolated cases of abuse or attacks on Tuaregs or persons suspected of being Tuareg, emphasizing isolated by repeating that characterization, citing one case in Zinder involving a civilian attack on another civilian. He insisted there are no reports of widespread discrimination or abuse against Tuaregs or any ethnic group. He said the GON is very vigilant on this matter because no one in the GON wants ethnic tensions to escalate. On the Sidaghamar case, he reported that the GON is close to completion of its investigation and hinted that the report would soon be sent to the President,s office for review. The PM stated he did not expect the results of the report to be made public due to its sensitivity, that to do so might not sit well with some military officers. He added, however, that those responsible for the killing will be punished, but said it,s highly unlikely the GON will release the results of the investigation to the public. (Comment: This may mean some low ranking officers will be punished, as opposed to a high ranking officer who may have given the order to kill the businessmen. End comment.) ¶4. (U) I asked the PM about the regional security conference that had been announced at last week,s ECOWAS meeting (ref D),whether a decision had been made on the venue, date and level of participation. The PM responded that there are actually plans for two conferences. He said the GON will host one regional conference, possibly in March or April, to deal with trafficking issues (drugs, cigarettes, arms, mines) in the Sahel region, that the GON will invite defense and law enforcement partners from across the Sahel region, and expects to seek participation from donor partners, governmental and nongovernmental organizations (NGO) that work on these issues. He said the second meeting to be NIAMEY 00000113 002.4 OF 002 organized by ECOWAS will deal with insecurity in the Mali to Niger corridor and will be hosted by the Government of Mali in Bamako. He added he wasn,t sure of the exact date of the meeting in March, that ECOWAS will extend invitations to potential participants. ¶5. (C) The PM then asked whether the USG could provide some immediate assistance to the GON to deal with the insecurity. When I responded that the USG was still working on the demining assistance, he asked whether there was more the USG could do, such as providing intelligence information or other materials. I responded that I couldn't speak to what additional assistance the USG could provide, stated that a Department of Defense (DOD) employee was just here this week to look at possible assistance to combat drug trafficking, but that such assistance, if provided, wouldn,t be immediate. I suggested he may wish to raise the matter with AF Assistant Secretary (A/S) Frazer at the meeting the PM,s assistant informed me the PM is scheduled to have with A/S Frazer on the margins of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa next week. (Note: The PM, not President Tandja, will lead the GON delegation to the AU Summit. FM Mindaoudou also is a member of the delegation. End note.) ¶6. (C) I closed the security discussion with a request for an update on the situation in Tanout and the abduction of the Prefet and some military officers (Ref D). The PM responded that the Prefet had been allowed to phone his family early morning January 24 and confirmed that military officers were still being held with him. I asked whether the Mouvement des Nigeriens pour la Justice (MNJ) had made any demands and the PM responded that the MNJ had not as yet made any demands. ¶7. (C) Turning to food security, I asked about the status of the GON,s actions to deposit funds from rice sales into an interest-bearing account under the control of the Cellule de Crises Alimentaires (CCA ) Food Crisis Unit). The PM confirmed that an interest-bearing account has been opened for CCA and that the proceeds of sale had been deposited. On the matter of taxes erroneously paid to GON Customs, he said he signed and sent a letter to the Ministers of Commerce and Finance together with copies of the relevant conventions and that the funds have now been reimbursed. When I asked about the overdue annual report that should have been completed in November 2007, the PM,s Chief of Staff responded that the report is just about complete, that it had been held up pending confirmation that the CCA account had been established and the customs duties reimbursed. ¶8. (U) I closed the food security discussion and meeting with an inquiry about Food For Training (FFT),noting that one NGO partner had expected to implement a FFT program to replace the former Food For Work (FFW) program that President Tandja had rejected. I reported that I had been informed that Minister of Community Development (MCD) Saade Souleye, who initially agreed to FTT, earlier this week contacted the NGO in question to state that FFT was no longer acceptable. I asked the PM whether he could shed light on the situation. He inquired which NGO was having the problem and I identified Catholic Relief Service (CRS). The PM said this was the first he had heard about this issue and that he would contact the MCD and look into the matter. ALLEN