NIGER: RELEASED DETAINEE TELLS HIS STORY

UNCLAS NIAMEY 000487 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM NG SUBJECT: NIGER: RELEASED DETAINEE TELLS HIS STORY ¶1. (SBU) Aziz Ameyagi was released from Niger's high security Kutokalle Prison on May 5 after eight months of detainment On May 8 he recounted his saga to the Embassy Development Coordinator. ¶2. (SBU) Aziz was a senior person in Africare,s Agadez office. He was arrested by gendarmes last August while refueling his car at the filling station in Agadez. He was detained for 22 days at the gendarmerie in Agadez. He was then put in chains and transported in rough conditions from Agadez to the Kutokalle Prison, which is about 50 kilometers from Niamey on the road to Tillaberi. He was with five other Tuaregs who had also been arrested in Agadez. They do not know why they were taken to Kutokalle, far from their families. ¶3. (SBU) While in Kutokalle, Aziz says he was not abused and that all human rights norms were respected. His family was able to see him during visiting hours and bring him food and other items. He gained over 30 pounds while in prison. However, he also said that he slept in a room of about 4 meters square with 23 other prisoners. He said he would have probably died if his family had not been able to bring him food, as the prison food is terrible. Showers were taken in groups and they were each given one bar of soap each month. Staying well in prison was a big challenge and Aziz is going for a full medical check up. One of the people released with him is now in the hospital with meningitis. He said that there were 200 prisoners (198 Muslims and 2 Christians) in Kutokalle, including some of the worst criminals from all parts of Niger. He says he associated with murders and some real psycho cases. ¶4. (SBU) Aziz's family, and the family of the five others, hired three attorneys to pursue their case in the courts. Thanks to the lawyers' efforts and a new, young and understanding judge, all six were eventually freed. The judge who freed them was shocked to find that there was nothing in their files, not even the usual statement that every gendarme and police officer does as a matter of routine when they arrest someone. They paid their attorneys cfa 6 million (about $14,000). Aziz believe that if they had not been able to engage attorneys, they would still be in jail. He is considering bringing a damage suit against the government. ¶5. (SBU) Aziz is happy to have his freedom but feels that he lost 8 months of his life in terrible conditions for no reason. He says he is innocent and that the gendarmes who arrested him had no information whatsoever on which to base his arrest. He says his arrest was totally arbitrary and that he was the unlucky victim of a random action that was without any rational foundation. ¶6. (SBU) Aziz said that he came away from his experience with the impression that most of the people in prison have been there for years without ever having seen a judge. He says he would like to start a local NGO to help such prisoners find justice. ALLEN