Falana
Human
rights lawyer, Femi Falana SAN has asked the Nigerian Army to end
“attack, harassment and intimidation of Amnesty International and
focus instead on addressing the several allegations of serious human
rights violations and abuses by the Army.”
In
a statement made in Lagos this morning, Falana said, “The Nigerian
military has also been indicted by the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), Presidential Panel on Procurement of Arms and
Ammunition, Judicial Commissions of Enquiry and the International
Criminal Court (ICC) on gross human rights abuse and war crimes which
are similar to the allegations documented by Amnesty International.”
The
Nigerian Army yesterday said it would make a case for the closure of
the Amnesty International offices in Nigeria, alleging the human
rights group “is working hard to destabilise the country.”
But
Falana said, “I am very concerned that rather than telling
Nigerians what they would do to address the very damaging allegations
made by Amnesty International of grave human rights abuses against
the Nigerian Army and other security agencies the Army is targeting
Amnesty simply for working to hold the Army to account.”
Falana’s
statement read in part: “The Army should accept responsibility and
allow Amnesty International to carry out its human rights work.
Stigmatising and maligning the very organizations that stand for
human rights would be inconsistent with Nigerian Constitution of 1999
(as amended) and international law, and portray the Army as
attempting to cover up the allegations.”
“Contrary
to the false claim of the Army, the Muhammadu Buhari government in
2016 instituted a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to
investigate allegations of human rights violations and abuses by the
Nigerian Armed Forces in the North-east region and other
parts of the country. The panel confirmed grave human rights abuses
by the military. Unfortunately, the government has not been able to
release the report. Further, the government has not released the
White Paper on the panel’s findings.”
“However,
many of the hundreds of people being detained in Giwa Barrack and
other detention centres have either been released or charged to
court. But the Army previously dismissed the allegations of human
rights abuse of the detainees.”
“The
Nigerian Army killed 347 Shiites in Zaria in December 2015 under the
pretext that there was a plot to assassinate the Chief of Army Staff,
General Tukur Buratai. The Judicial Commission of Enquiry instituted
by Governor Nasir Elrufai of Kaduna State dismissed the basis
of the massacre and recommended the prosecution of the culprits. But
as the indicted officers and the troops were not prosecuted for
conspiracy and culpable homicide the Army again opened fire on
another group of Shiites in Abuja in October 2018. At the end
of the attack, 52 Shiites were killed in cold blood. Even though the
soldiers who committed the reckless massacre in Abuja have been
identified in a video they will not be brought to trial for now!”
“In
all of these incidents and several others, Amnesty International and
other human rights bodies have conducted investigated and indicted
the criminal elements who bear most responsibility for the crimes
against humanity and other egregious human rights violations
committed against the Nigerian people. It is because of these
unresolved allegations that the Army is now mounting pressure on the
Federal Government to expel Amnesty International.”
“Last
week, the Army did the same thing to UNICEF, an institution that is
doing so much to protect the human rights of Nigerian children in
difficult circumstances in the North-east region and across the
country. We are not unaware that the Nigerian authorities did not
like the recent report by UNICEF that 13.2 million Nigerian
children are out of school, sadly the highest number in the world.”
“We
are also aware that some senior military officers are standing trial
for alleged criminal diversion of several billions of Naira earmarked
for the purchase of arms and ammunition for counter insurgency
operations. This sad development has prolonged the war on terror
being prosecuted by the Federal Government.”
Falana
also recalled that President Buhari had personally assured the
leadership of Amnesty International that all allegations of human
rights by the military would be investigated and that anyone
implicated would be sanctioned. The Senate had also passed a
resolution to probe the various allegations of human rights abuse by
the members of the armed forces. But due to the failure of the
Nigerian Government to ensure compliance of the Armed Forces with
Human Rights’ obligations and rules of engagement and specifically
to investigate allegations of human rights abuses levelled against
the military by Amnesty International and other foreign and local
human rights organisations the International Criminal Court has
been inundated with petitions alleging human rights abuse by the
Nigerian military and failure of the Government to bring the
perpetrators to book.
According
to the human rights lawyer, "the ICC has recently revealed that
it received a total of 169 communications from Nigeria and its
assessment has shown that security forces in Nigeria have committed
war crimes varying from murder, torture, and intentionally attacking
the civilian population. Specifically, the Office found a
reasonable basis to believe that security forces committed the war
crimes of murder, torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal
dignity and intentionally directing attacks against the civilian
population.”
Falana
urged the Authorities of the Nigerian Army to stop chasing the shadow
by mounting pressure on the Buhari administration to close down the
offices of Amnesty International and UNICEF in Nigeria. To prevent
the arraignment of the indicted military officers before the
International Criminal Court, the Federal Government is advised to
obtain the report of the Prosecutor with a view to embarking
on the immediate prosecution of the suspects.
Furthermore, the Federal Government should prosecute the military
personal indicted by the two judicial commissions of enquiry as well
as the Presidential Panel on Arms Procurement.
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