According to the Human Rights Watch World Report 2026, several West African leaders significantly increased their suppression of civil liberties during 2025 while consolidating their grip on power.
In the Sahel region and Nigeria, both government forces and their partners, along with Islamist militant groups, have repeatedly targeted civilians and vital infrastructure. At the same time, military juntas across the Sahel have expelled international monitors and dismantled the domestic institutions responsible for holding human rights abusers accountable.
“Military junta leaders in the Sahel have ramped up their assaults on freedom of expression and other fundamental rights, showing little interest in their promised returns to democratic rule,” noted Mausi Segun, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “There is an urgent need for broader regional action to pressure West African authorities to restore political space and safeguard the rights of their people.“
In this 36th annual edition of the World Report, spanning 529 pages, Human Rights Watch evaluates the human rights records of over 100 nations. In the report’s introduction, Executive Director Philippe Bolopion argues that reversing the current global surge of authoritarianism is the defining challenge for this generation. With the human rights framework facing unprecedented threats from various world powers, Bolopion encourages civil society and rights-respecting democracies to form a strategic coalition to protect core freedoms.
- Authorities in Mali and Niger have proposed extending their transitional military rules by five years and have banned political party activities. Meanwhile, Chad has removed limits on presidential terms.
- Governments have continued to stifle dissent, media, and free speech. In Mali and Burkina Faso, activists, journalists, and critics of the juntas have faced arbitrary arrest, illegal conscription, or enforced disappearances. In Nigeria, the government has used broad interpretations of cybercrime laws to prosecute social media users and journalists. In Niger, former President Mohamed Bazoum remains in arbitrary detention without a trial, while in Chad, opposition leader Succès Masra was sentenced to 20 years in prison on politically motivated charges.
- Two major Islamist groups, the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) and Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen (JNIM), have carried out massacres against civilians in Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso. Conversely, the Burkina Faso military, state-backed militias, the Mali armed forces, and the Russian-supported Africa Corps (formerly the Wagner Group) have been implicated in the summary execution of Fulani civilians.
- Resurgent attacks by the Boko Haram faction Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad have devastated communities in Nigeria‘s Borno State. In the country’s northwest, criminal gangs continue to murder and kidnap with impunity as the government fails to provide security or accountability.
- Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali have finalized their departure from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and declared their intent to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), severely limiting legal recourse for victims of atrocities.
Human Rights Watch concluded that the African Union and other international bodies must intensify their efforts to shield civilians from these ongoing human rights violations and violent attacks.
