The African Union on Friday expressed “deep concern” at the reported poor conditions of Niger President Mohamed Bazoum’s detention, calling his treatment at the hands of coup leaders “unacceptable”.
In a statement made by the AU Commission head Moussa Faki Mahamat, said such treatment of a democratically elected president through a regular electoral process is unacceptable, joining a chorus of concern about 63-year-old Bazoum, who was overthrown by military chiefs last month.
He added that Concordant sources attest to a worrying deterioration of conditions.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have also spoken out about the worsening conditions that Bazoum and his family are reportedly living under.
According to reports Bazoum was being kept in isolation and forced to eat plain rice and pasta, with no access to medicines.
Faki also expressed his “strong support” for the decisions adopted by the Economic Community of West African States, which on Thursday approved the deployment of a standby force to restore constitutional order in Niger.
An attempt this week to send a joint team of ECOWAS, UN, and AU representatives to Niger’s capital Niamey was rejected by the coup leaders.
