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Erosion of Democracy in Benin


Supporters of Reckya Madougou's gather at the Court of Repression of Economic Offences and Terrorism (CRIET), in Porto-novo on Dec. 10, 2021.
Supporters of Reckya Madougou's gather at the Court of Repression of Economic Offences and Terrorism (CRIET), in Porto-novo on Dec. 10, 2021.

The United States has expressed “grave concerns” about political interference in Benin’s criminal justice system.

Erosion of Democracy in Benin
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The United States has expressed “grave concerns” about political interference in Benin’s criminal justice system.

After Benin’s leading opposition leader and former justice minister Reckya Madougou was sentenced to 20 years in prison, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement, “We are alarmed over the further erosion of space for dissent, overall restrictions on participatory self-governance and freedom of expression, and systematic targeting of political opposition figures.”

Madougou’s conviction on charges of alleged terrorism came just days after Joel Aivo, another leading political opponent of Beninese President Patrice Talon, was sentenced to 10 years for allegedly plotting against the state and money laundering.

Both Madougou and Aivo had been barred from running in the April 2021 election in which President Talon won a second term in office with over 86% of the vote, in a poll that was boycotted by the opposition. They were both tried in the Economic Crime and Terrorism Court, or CRIET, which has been accused of unfairly targeting members of the opposition. A judge of the CRIET fled Benin shortly before the April election, citing undue political pressure.

For years, Benin had been praised as a democratic beacon in a troubled area. Recently, however, there have been disturbing signs of repression and authoritarianism. The State Department’s most recent human rights report noted that the disqualification of political candidates from legislative elections in 2019, (as candidates were from the Presidential election in 2021), resulted in a steep decline in voter participation. The State Department also reported significant human rights issues, including politically motivated arrests; serious restrictions on press freedom; unjustified arrests and prosecutions of journalists; and inefficiency and corruption in the judicial system that undermined the right to a fair trial.

At the virtual Summit for Democracy hosted in December by President Joe Biden, he warned against “the backward slide of rights and democracy” occurring in too many places around the globe. Yet democracy remains, President Biden declared, “the best way to unleash human potential and defend human dignity and solve big problems.”

Benin knew this once; it is time for the government to act on it again. One place to start, as Spokesperson Price noted, is to demonstrate “to Benin’s citizens and international partners that the judicial system will not be used for political purposes,” which is “essential to restoring Benin’s former reputation as a regional leader in democratic governance and rule of law.”

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