Unconstitutional Change of Government and Legality: ECOWAS’s Use of Force Against Niger

The democratically elected President of the Republic of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, was overthrown in a coup d’état led by Commander of the Presidential Guard, General Abdourahamane Tchiani, on 26 July 2023. The coup received the endorsement and support of the Niger Armed Forces, but was condemned by international, regional and sub-regional organisations to which Niger is linked by multilateral treaties and by its former colonial power, France, which at the time of the coup had bilateral treaties with Niger by which Niger ceded significant economic, cultural and security interests to France. The United Nations Secretary-General condemned the coup and asked the military junta to hand power back to the government, free the deposed president from detention and return to barracks. The African Union suspended Niger’s membership and called on the military regime to return power to the government. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), acting on the authority of its zero-tolerance policy to the unconstitutional changes of government, also suspended Niger’s membership and gave the military regime an ultimatum of seven days to hand power back to Bazoum, failing which it would resort to the use of force to restore him. This paper examines the legality of ECOWAS’s threat to use force to restore democratic rule and questions the legitimacy of French colonial economic and security treaties and the multilateral objectives of ECOWAS, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Union Constitutive Act.