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Viewing cable 06NIAMEY741, BANNING OF WEEKLY ILLUSTRATES SORRY STATE OF

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06NIAMEY741 2006-07-11 14:15 2011-08-30 01:44 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Niamey
VZCZCXYZ0005
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNM #0741/01 1921415
ZNR UUUUU ZZH CCY ADXF232IE MSI0905 612
R 111415Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY NIAMEY
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 2643
UNCLAS NIAMEY 000741 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D COPY (CAPTION ADDED) 
 
DEPT: FOR AF/W, BACHMAN; AF/RSA, HARPOLE; DRL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KPAO NG
SUBJECT: BANNING OF WEEKLY ILLUSTRATES SORRY STATE OF 
NIGERIEN PRIVATE JOURNALISM 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1.  On June 28, the Conseil Superieur de la Communication 
(CSC), the regulatory authority for Nigerien media, banned 
the publication of the private opposition weekly "L'Opinion." 
The journal was banned on grounds of having published 
injurious and defamatory statements directed against Niger 
President Mamadou Tandja and his family; incitation to 
revolt; and, "immoral offense." On July 5, the paper's 
publisher, Alzouma Zakari was taken in for questioning by the 
detective branch of the Nigerien National Police after he 
began unauthorized publication of a new journal "Opinions," 
on July 4. Zakari was released the same day, and publicly 
stated that, while he would cease to publish, he would appeal 
the CSC's decision to the Nigerien Supreme Court. No other 
legal action has been taken against Zakari or any of his 
employees as of this writing. This action marks the first 
time since 1999 that the CSC has permanently banned a 
newspaper. END SUMMARY 
 
---------------- 
WHAT IS THE CSC? 
---------------- 
 
2.  The CSC is an independent administrative authority 
roughly analogous to the FCC. Its eleven members represent 
diverse viewpoints and power sources both within and without 
government. The President, PM, and the President of the 
National Assembly each appoint one member, as does the 
Minister of Justice, the Bar Association, the country's human 
rights associations, the leader of the opposition, Nigerien 
women's organizations, and the private media. Professional 
journalists and telecom technicians also select two members. 
With the exception of the judicial and bar association 
representatives, all members are expected to have at least 
ten years of experience in journalism, communications, or 
telecom. 
 
3.  The CSC's action against "L'Opinion" came in two phases. 
On June 7, the CSC sent a formal warning to the paper, citing 
defamatory articles it had published in four of this year's 
issues. After the journal devoted most of its June 21 issue 
to a virulent attack on President Tandja and Prime Minister 
Hama Amadou, the CSC voted unanimously to ban publication. 
The last instance in which this happened was in 1999, when 
the CSC banned "Le Canardo," a publication associated with 
the recently overthrown military regime of Colonel Ibrahim 
Mainassara Bare. 
 
4.  Notwithstanding the presence on the CSC of a 
representative of one of its component organizations, one of 
the Nigerien Human Rights NGOs' umbrella organizations, the 
Collectif des Organisations de Defense des Droits de l'Homme 
et de la Democratie (CODDHD), denounced the ban in a July 2 
press release. The collective expressed its solidarity with 
Zakari, and called for the CSC to revisit the issue and lift 
the ban. Reaction in the Nigerien "street," has been muted, 
however, a possible reflection of the fact that "L'Opinion's" 
readership was limited (circulation was approximately one 
thousand per week). For its part, the Nigerien civil society 
movement remains primarily concerned with organizing protests 
over cost of living issues and has not taken a forceful 
public stance on this issue. 
 
--------------------------- 
L'OPINION & THE AUTHORITIES 
--------------------------- 
 
5.  Always an opposition journal, L'Opinion had become 
increasingly polemical over the course of the last year. 
Editorial content infected reporting to a degree uncommon 
even among Nigerien private papers. Typical of its reporting 
and editorializing over the last six months were a series of 
articles "L'Opinion" ran attacking some of the senior figures 
in the Government of Niger (GON). In one such piece, directed 
at National Assembly President Mahamane Ousmane on the 25th 
of January, the journal referred to the former (1993-1996) 
President of Niger as a "monster," and denounced the supposed 
corruption of his regime. Another article in the same issue 
referred to Ousmane as a "vulgar political opportunist'...'a 
man for sale and without any political conscience," and went 
on from there. Attacks on President Tandja and PM Amadou 
followed, and culminated in a June 21 cover story denouncing 
Tandja and Amadou as corrupt, incompetent, and cynical, 
without citing any supporting evidence. The piece compared 
Tandja's rise to power and ability to manage the same to a 
four year old child's discovery of a 10,000 CFA ($20.00) note 
in the street. The PM was referred to as a "genie of 
manipulation, political intrigue, and demagoguery," while the 
GON was denounced for using "brainwashing tactics similar to 
those of fascist and Nazi regimes." 
 
 
 
6.  What appears to have really condemned "L'Opinion" was 
what followed - text that the CSC determined to be an 
incitation to revolt against the government. The June 21 
article, which encompassed much of that issue's space, 
concluded its denunciation of Tandja, Amadou, and the GON 
along the following lines: "when a political class becomes 
insolent, incompetent, insensitive to the wounds of its 
agonized people, it is the duty of every citizen to resist 
all forms of oppression without regard for their sources or 
causes. Citizens of Niger, unite!" While the paper answered 
 
its own hypothetical "what to do under these 
conditions...stage a coup d'etat?," in the negative, its very 
posing of this as a possible response may have hurt them. 
Their conclusion to the question thus posed also put them on 
dangerous ground with the regulators: "Niger needs a deep 
cure, as the psychologists say, in the form of a democratic 
transition that would set back the clock by at least five 
years." During this transition period, "L'Opinion" argued, a 
general audit of all of the activities of the Fifth Republic 
would be undertaken. 
 
7.  COMMENT: While its insulting, ad hominem attacks on 
senior political leaders put "L'Opinion" on track for a 
run-in with the state, its call for a form of 
unconstitutional and systemic political change finally did it 
in. Under the Nigerien constitution, the CSC has the right to 
regulate the press to ensure a due respect for professional 
ethics. While liberty of the press is guaranteed by the 
constitution, there are legal limits such as those associated 
with defamation or calls for the overthrow of the state. 
Government's moves against the press in Niger usually take 
the form of individually filed civil and criminal defamation 
charges against journalists. The outright banning of a paper 
is without recent precedent, though so too is the extent of 
"L'Opinion's" provocations. If Zakari is to be believed, the 
legal validity of the CSC's position will be tested before 
the Supreme Court in the near future. 
 
8.  While the case of "L'Opinion" illustrates some of the 
limits of press freedom in Niger, it also illustrates the 
limits of media professionalism among the small, privately 
owned and directed papers that have blossomed in the country 
over the last decade. "L'Opinion's" transition, over the 
course of the last year, from an apparently reasonable 
opposition weekly to a venue for poorly grounded ad hominem 
attacks on public officials likely finds its explanation in 
the biography of its proprietor, Alzouma Zakari. According to 
Post's media contacts, Zakari, who had no journalism 
background prior to founding "L'Opinion," is well known for 
turning his pen against political figures in exchange for 
money. Credible observers allege that his attacks are often 
motivated by self-interest, outright pay-offs, and/or his own 
temporary political allegiances. The incentive for Zakari's 
recent, dramatic attacks on senior GON figures is unclear. 
However, his decision to take his paper down into the gutter 
illustrates, in sharper relief than usual, a depressingly 
common phenomenon in the Nigerien private press - the 
substitution of a publisher's personal agenda for the sort of 
responsible, critical journalism the public deserves. END 
COMMENT 
ALLEN