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same to be held without a lawful custodial warrant out of the facilities determined by the
government or public authorities;
Article 113 establishes the prescribed criminal sanctions for public officers in charge of the
administrative police or the Criminal Investigations Department who refuse or fail to act upon a
legal complaint intended to establish illegal or arbitrary detentions, either in the facilities meant for
the custody of prisoners or in any facility whatsoever, and fail to show that they have reported them
to the higher authority;
Article 117 provides for criminal sanctions against all public office holders who scheme to take
measures which are contrary to the Constitution and the laws;
Article 102 of the martial law provides that where a committal order or a warrant is issued, the
accused person or defendant is either sent to a military prison or, where that is not possible, to a
facility designated by the authority empowered to conduct prosecutions;
Article 62 of the Martial Law (ML) specifies that upon the expiry of the custody deadline, accused
persons are brought before the Government Commissioner or the competent civil authority. The
immediate superiors are informed of the transfer in writing; furthermore, while they are waiting to
be transferred, accused persons may be held in a barracks or gendarmerie lockup or in a military
prison (Article 58 paragraph 2 of the ML);
Article 63 of the ML allows the government commissioner to exempt CID officers from the formal
requirements of Article 62, in which case accused persons are sent back to the authority to which
they are answerable upon the expiry of the custody deadlines. The superior officers may issue
orders for these persons to be sent to a disciplinary unit pending the subsequent decision;
Article 64 requires military criminal investigation officers to enter the dates and times indicating the
commencement and end of the custody measures into their records;
Article 65 of the ML provides that supervision of the custody of persons who are not members of
the armed forces will be the responsibility of the Government Commissioner or the military
examining magistrate with territorial jurisdiction; they may respectively delegate these powers to
the public prosecutor or the examining magistrate in the jurisdiction where the custody is effected,
and
Article 321 paragraph 6 of the ML considers as war crimes and prescribes punishment for
deportation, illegal transfer or displacement and illegal detention of a civilian who is protected by
the Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War or a person protected from
these same situations by the Geneva Additional Protocols I and II of 12 August 1949;
65.
These national legal instruments are consistent with the 39 principles as well as the general
provision adopted on 9 December 1988 by the United Nations General Assembly through
Resolution 43/173; this is particularly the case for Principle 2 which states that arrests, detention
or imprisonment shall only be carried out in strict compliance with the laws and by persons
authorized for such purpose. Thus, any person who is arrested shall be informed at the time of his
arrest of the reason for his arrest and shall be promptly informed of any charges against him; such
a person must enjoy all the guarantees connected to his innocence. They are also consistent with
the resolution which requires States to punish any contrary act committed by an agent of the State.
66.
Custody and provisional detention deadlines have not witnessed any change since the last
report was submitted. Nevertheless, it should be stated that certain bodies or institutions tasked
with ensuring change have been reformed or strengthened. Some of these are the General Legal
and Prison Services Inspectorate, Information and Complaints Office, Fight Against Corruption
(Green Line), court indictment divisions, Pre-trial Investigation Monitoring Units and the General
Security Services Inspectorate (Police Service, Niger National Guard and Civil Protection Unit).
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