The personal doctor of President Mohamed Bazoum, the detained President of Niger, stated after his visit that the president's "spirits are high" despite being held in "difficult" conditions by the military council that ousted him.

Bazoum, his son, and wife have been held in the basement of the presidential palace in Niamey since the coup on July 26.

The French public radio station RFI reported the doctor as saying that "the living conditions remain difficult with power outages."

The visit was approved amid increasing international calls for the release of Bazoum.

Reports indicate that Bazoum, 63, has lost a "concerning" amount of weight, while his 20-year-old son, who suffers from a chronic medical condition, has been denied care.

The French radio added that "the doctor was able to speak to the president, his wife, and son," and "the doctor was also able to bring food and medicine to them."

It seems that the military council led by General Abdourahamane Tchiani's decision to bring in a family doctor came in response to widespread condemnation of the president's detention since the coup.

The UN human rights coordinator, Volker Turk, described the detention conditions as inhumane and degrading and a violation of international human rights law.

His daughter Zazia, 34, who was on holiday in France during the coup, told The Guardian this week that her father, mother, and brother have no clean water or electricity and are living on rice and pasta.

She said that fresh food was rotting in the refrigerator due to the lack of electricity.

She told the newspaper: "My family's situation is extremely difficult right now." She added, "They say they will continue to fight, but it's hard to see our family in this situation and they can't go out."

The Nigerien army ousted the democratically elected president in a coup on July 26.

Similar military takeovers occurred in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali amid an Islamist insurrection and growing Russian influence in the wider Sahel region through the Wagner mercenary group.

Despite his captivity, Bazoum managed to publish an article in the Washington Post stating that he is a hostage and that the coup will have "severe consequences for our country, our region, and the entire world."

Over a week has passed since U.S. President Joe Biden called for the "immediate release of Bazoum" and "the preservation of the hard-won democracy in Niger."

This came after the deadline set by ECOWAS, the Economic Community of West African States, for the coup leaders to resign expired.

ECOWAS's threats of military intervention were not implemented, and the military council continued to ignore demands for the president's release.

ECOWAS said on Saturday that it hopes to send a delegation to Niger to meet with the coup leaders.