Nigerien Movement for Justice

MNJ fighter in February 2008

Map of the attacks by the MNJ in which several dozen soldiers were killed

The Nigerien Movement for Justice ( French Mouvement des Nigériens pour la Justice, MNJ ) is a paramilitary organization that was active in northern Niger from 2007 to 2009 .

history

The MNJ emerged in 2007 as a multi-ethnic movement that demanded fairer conditions from the government under President Mamadou Tandja . It was joined by dissatisfied members of the Nigerien armed forces , including those who had participated in a 2002 mutiny in Diffa . The specific demands of the MNJ included a higher profit sharing of the local population in the uranium production of the AREVA group in Arlit and extensive development measures for the north of the country, combined with political decentralization and a stronger representation of the resident Tuareg in the government of the Agadez region . In addition, the 1995 peace agreement, which put an end to the rebellion in connection with the marginalization of the Tuareg in Niger , was perceived as insufficiently implemented.

The MNJ began its activities on February 8, 2007 with an attack on a base of the Nigerien Armed Forces near Iférouane . Other regular attacks, killing soldiers, have centered on other military bases and on infrastructural facilities such as power stations and fuel depots. President Tandja responded with military counter-attacks and the imposition of a heightened state of alarm over the Agadez region. Human rights organizations reported arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial executions of civilians by the army. The president portrayed the rebels as armed bandits, while the MNJ coined a popular blog that portrayed Tandjas as a bloodthirsty tyrant.

On July 27, 2007, the MNJ allied itself with the Malian organization Alliance Démocratique du 23 mai pour le Changement in the Alliance Touareg Niger-Mali pour le Changement . The public perception of the Nigerien Movement for Justice shifted towards a nationalist Tuareg organization, whereupon support for the activities of the MNJ in the south of the country diminished. At the end of 2007 the military successes of the MNJ waned, which continued to attack cities on the southern edge of the Sahara and was also involved in kidnappings. It remained unclear whether the use of landmines , which exploded in Niamey , Tahoua and Maradi in 2008 , was the responsibility of the MNJ or whether the Nigerien government was to blame it.

In 2009, Mamadou Tandja sought a third term as president that was not provided for in the constitution. He was therefore keen to de-escalate the conflict. After negotiations mediated by Muammar al-Gaddafi , a peace agreement was signed between the government and the MNJ in Sabha in October 2009 , which led to the hostilities being ceased. MNJ splinter groups distanced themselves from the agreement.

literature

• Frédéric Deycard: Political Cultures and Tuareg Mobilizations. Rebels of Niger, from Kaocen to the Mouvement des Nigériens pour la Justice . In: Yvan Guichaoua (Ed.): Understanding Collective Political Violence . Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 2012, ISBN 978-0-230-24608-9 , pp. 46-64 .

Web links

• MNJ blog (mostly French)
• Yvan Guichaoua: Circumstantial Alliances and Loose Loyalties in Rebellion Making: The Case of Tuareg Insurgency in Northern Niger (2007–2009). MICROCON Research Working Paper 20. (PDF; 954 kB) MICROCON, December 2009, accessed on September 24, 2013 (English). 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Abdourahmane Idrissa, Samuel Decalo: Historical Dictionary of Niger . 4th edition. Scarecrow, Plymouth 2012, ISBN 978-0-8108-6094-0 , p. 329.
2. ^ Matthias Basedau, Benjamin Werner: New Tuareg Rebellion: Niger in the "Conflict Trap"? ( Memento of the original from January 19, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 505 kB) In: GIGA Focus , No. 12/2007, website of the GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies ; Retrieved October 8, 2012. 
3. ↑ Anna Bednik: Environmental disaster in the desert . In: Le Monde diplomatique . No. 8628 of July 11, 2008, p. 16 ( online version ( Memento of the original of February 23, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to instructions and then remove this notice. ). 
4. ^ Alliance Touareg Niger-Mali pour le Changement . AfDevInfo; Retrieved October 8, 2012.