Bazoum, who was elected in 2021, was overthrown on July 26, 2023 by General Abdourahamane Tiani, the head of his presidential guard, over allegations of failing to protect the nation from jihadist attacks.
Since then, he and his wife Hadiza have been held at the presidential palace in Niamey in strict detention.
"The deprivations of liberty of Mohamed Bazoum and Hadiza Bazoum are arbitrary," the UN working group on arbitrary detention said in a report seen by AFP on Monday.
"The appropriate measure would be to immediately free Mr and Mrs Bazoum and to grant them the right to obtain compensation," added the group, which falls under the UN Human Rights Council.
Reiterating a call for their immediate release, a group of lawyers representing Bazoum on Monday said the couple had no contact with the outside world, including family, friends and lawyers, after the confiscation of his phone in October 2023.
"Only a doctor can visit them to bring food and medicine," the collective said in a statement.
"The United Nations has rejected the shaky explanations and confirmed what the world already knows: president Bazoum is being held in a cruel and illegal manner," said Reed Brody, a member of the collective.
Niger's military rulers have told the United Nations that Bazoum had telephone talks with "enemy obscurantist forces to stage an attack with the help of foreign powers" to topple the government.
The UN said the military government had "not furnished any explanation for Bazoum's lengthy detention or for the absence of trials".
In June, a junta-appointed court lifted Bazoum's presidential immunity, paving the way for an eventual trial for which no date has yet been fixed.
In December 2023, the court of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) had ordered Bazoum's release, but Niger has since left the regional bloc.
Niger says to hold 'national convention' on transition charter
Niamey, Niger (AFP) Feb 9, 2025 -
Niger's military regime will organise a "national convention" from February 15 to 19, notably intended to set the duration of the transition period that began with the 2023 overthrow of civilian President Mohamed Bazoum, the interior ministry said.
The ministry unveiled the dates in a press release broadcast overnight Saturday on state television, adding that the gathering would take place in the capital Niamey.
In August 2023, shortly after taking power in a coup, General Abdourahamane Tiani announced the organisation of an "inclusive national dialogue" to outline the priority areas of governance and lay down the duration of the transition.
At the time, he mentioned a maximum duration of three years, but he has not addressed the issue since.
Early last year consultations were held across the country's eight regions to lay out a working basis for next week's meetings, with a national commission also created by presidential decree to oversee the work of the four-day conference set to produce a "preliminary draft of the transition charter".
Following the gathering there will be a three-week period in which to draft a "final report" to General Tiani.
The commission, headed by Dr Mamoudou Harouna Djingareye, a traditional leader, also comprises former ministers, academics, lawyers, soldiers, advisors to General Tiani, religious leaders and figures drawn from civil society.
It is made up of five sub-committees whose themes are "peace, security, national reconciliation and social cohesion", "political and institutional overhaul" and "justice and human rights".
Niger is one of several countries in Africa's Sahel region where the military has seized power in coups in recent years, amid persistent attacks by jihadist insurgencies.
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