HRWF files Benin report to UN's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) over detention of opposition figures

BRUSSELS, July 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) has filed a report with the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR) for Benin, in which the organisation outlined its concerns over human rights abuses in Benin, with particular regard to the sentencing of opposition figures, Ms Reckya Madougou and Mr Joël Aivo to respectively 20 and 10 years in prison and the fact that they were not included in a June 2022 list of 17 detainees due to be temporarily released.

Willy Fautré, Director and Co-Founder of HRWF, commented: "Our organisation has been monitoring the backsliding that has been taking place around human rights in Benin since 2016. We were especially dismayed to see that Reckya Madougou and Joël Aivo were not on the June 2022 list of 17 detainees to be temporarily released. Ms Madougou and Mr Aivo should be fully released immediately. The persecution and detention of opposition figures has no place in a democracy and we are concerned for the welfare of these two politicians."

A full version of this press release is available at BENIN: HRWF files Benin statement to UN's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) over detention of opposition figures | Human Rights Without Frontiers

For more information, please contact:
HRWF: international.secretariat.brussels@hrwf.org