(Nairobi) - Leaders in several West African countries increased crackdowns on freedoms as they strengthened their hold on power in 2025, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2026.

In Nigeria and the Sahel, Islamist armed groups and government forces and their allies repeatedly attacked civilians and civilian infrastructure at a time when the Sahel juntas have expelled regional and international bodies and weakened institutions that provide accountability for abuses.

"Leaders of military juntas in the Sahel region ramped up efforts to stifle free speech and other freedoms with little regard for transitioning to promised democratic rule," said Mausi Segun, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Greater regional efforts are needed to press the authorities in West Africa to open up political and democratic space and protect people's human rights."

In the 529-page World Report 2026, its 36th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices inmore than100 countries. In his introductory essay, Executive Director Philippe Bolopion writes that breaking the authoritarian wave sweeping the world is the challenge of a generation. With the human rights system under unprecedented threat from the Trump administration and other global powers, Bolopion calls on rights-respecting democracies and civil society to build a strategic alliance to defend fundamental freedoms.

The African Union and other regional and international bodies need to make greater efforts to keep civilians safe from attack and human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said.

Source: Human Rights Watch