internet access. Nigeria’s National Broadcasting Commission imposed punitive fines on 25 stations over their coverage of the 2023 general elections for allegedly breaching the broadcasting code. Other authorities went further, including in Benin where the Gazette du Golfe press group was suspended indefinitely. In Burkina Faso, two foreign correspondents were expelled from the country and in Niger, L’Évènement newspaper was closed for alleged non-payment of taxes. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION Severe and unwarranted restrictions on the right to freedom of association increased. Opposition parties were targeted and their ability to organize and freely conduct their activities was stifled. In Burundi, authorities suspended almost all activities of the main opposition party, the National Congress for Liberty. Following the July coup in Niger, the military suspended all activities by political parties indefinitely. In Uganda, campaign gatherings and other activities of the National Unity Platform party were suspended. On a positive note, Tanzania’s president lifted a 2016 ban on political parties organizing rallies and other political activities. Authorities continued to weaponize laws to curtail human rights, including the right to freedom of association. In Angola, the NGO bill that, according to NGOs, could limit the right to freedom of association and give the executive excessive powers to interfere in their activities, was approved by parliament. ARBITRARY ARRESTS AND DETENTIONS, AND TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT Arbitrary arrests and detention remained widespread. Mass arrests and detention, in many cases, were used during the dispersal by security forces of protests or during the enforcement of states of emergency. In August, the Ethiopian government imposed a six-month nationwide state of emergency, following armed clashes between the army and the Fano militia in the Amhara region. It provided the pretext for the detention of hundreds of people who were denied access to lawyers and courts. In Senegal, over 1,000 people were arrested and detained mostly for participating in protests, or for their alleged connection to the opposition party, PASTEF. In other countries, including Botswana, Burundi, Niger and Zimbabwe, high-profile political figures were arrested or arbitrarily detained. In Botswana, several leaders of the Botswana Patriotic Front opposition party, and two journalists, were arrested and detained without charge for up to two days. Following the coup in Niger, President Bazoum and his family were detained in the presidential complex. Several other former government and ruling party officials were detained without charge. In Zimbabwe, Jacob Ngarivhume, the leader of opposition party Transform Zimbabwe was acquitted on appeal eight months after being sentenced to 48 months’ imprisonment (12 suspended). He had been arrested in July 2020 for leading and organizing anti-corruption protests. Arbitrary arrests and detention were also reported in the DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Mali and elsewhere. Torture and other ill-treatment in detention remained a grave concern. Suspicious deaths in police custody were reported in several countries, including Equatorial Guinea, Lesotho, Mauritania and Nigeria. In Mauritania, human rights defender Souvi Ould Jibril Ould Cheine died after interrogation at a police station. An official autopsy concluded that his death was due to strangulation, contradicting the authorities’ claim that he died of a heart attack. The public prosecutor ordered the arrest of the commissioner and police officers involved. In Nigeria, Faiz Abdullahi died in police custody in Kaduna state, after being tortured during interrogation. A 17-year-old student, died in hospital following torture during interrogation by police in Adamawa state. The State of the World’s Human Rights 27