Marie "Mame" Bassine Niang (1951 - September 27, 2013) was a Senegalese lawyer.
Born into a Muslim family in 1951 in Tambacounda, Senegal, Mame Bassin Niang studied law in France at the French commune of Aix-en-Provence. After her studies, she returned to Senegal to become the first black woman lawyer at the Dakar Bar in 1975.[1]
Her professional career focused on the defense of human rights in a context of restricted freedom of thought. Her commitment led her to create the Organisation Nationale des Droits de L’Homme du Sénégal (ONDH) (english: National Organization for Human Rights of Senegal), of which she was the first president.[2]
Considered as a feminist icon and concerned by the issue of women's emancipation, she was one of the founding members of the Association des Juristes Sénégalaises (AJS) (english: Association of Senegalese Jurists). She was at the point the Vice President of the Fondation internationale des femmes juriste (IFAD), (English: International Foundation of Women Lawyers).[3] She was High Commissioner for Human Rights under the presidency of Abdoulaye Wade. She died on September 27, 2013, in Dakar following a long illness at the age of 62.[4] [5]