Senegalese authorities on Tuesday, February 13, suspended mobile internet and banned a march against the delay of this month's presidential poll. Three people have been killed during violent protests after President Macky Sall's decision to push back the February 25 vote plunged traditionally stable Senegal into one of its worst crises in decades.
"We are deeply concerned about the tense situation in Senegal," Liz Throssell, spokeswoman for the United Nations rights office, told reporters in Geneva. "Following reports of unnecessary and disproportionate use of force against protesters and restrictions on civic space, we call on the authorities to ensure that they uphold Senegal's long-held tradition of democracy and respect for human rights," she added.
Demonstrations are subject to authorization in Senegal, with authorities refusing to give the green light for many opposition rallies in recent years. Unauthorized protests often descend into violent clashes. Throssell said at least three young men were killed and 266 people, including journalists, were reportedly arrested across the country.
The Aar Sunu Election (Let's protect our election) collective, which includes some 40 civil, religious and professional groups, had called for a peaceful rally in the capital Dakar on Tuesday. But one of the organizers, Elymane Haby Kane, told Agence France-Presse he had received an official letter from local authorities in Dakar saying the march was banned as it could seriously disrupt traffic. "We will postpone the march because we want to remain within the law," said Malick Diop, coordinator of the Aar Sunu Election collective.
Authorities on Tuesday also suspended mobile internet access for the second time this month, with the communications ministry citing "the dissemination on social networks of several subversive hate messages that have already provoked violent demonstrations".
Access to mobile data had already been restricted eight days earlier when parliament backed Sall's decision to postpone the election. It was later restored on Wednesday. The decision to cut access was a repeat of a move last June when Senegal's government restricted mobile internet amid high tensions.
France on Tuesday called on Senegal to ensure a "proportionate" response to any protests and called on the authorities to hold the presidential poll "as soon as possible," according to a statement by the foreign ministry.