Nigeria: President Must End Impunity for Human Rights Abusers

For Immediate Release:

Nigeria: President Must End Impunity for Human Rights Abusers

(New York, July 3, 2003) - Ending impunity for human rights abuses
should top President Obasanjo's agenda as he begins his second term in
office, Human Rights Watch said in an open letter to the Nigerian
President today.

The letter identifies several priorities for a new human rights agenda
for Nigeria. Since President Obasanjo took office four years ago, the
military has not been brought to justice for serious human rights
violations, including the indiscriminate killing of hundreds of people
in Odi, Bayelsa State, in November 1999, and of more than two hundred
people in Benue State in October 2001.

"The Obasanjo government must prosecute those members of the military
responsible for these horrific crimes," said Peter Takirambudde,
executive director of the Africa Division at Human Rights Watch. "Only
then will the government's commitment to human rights be taken
seriously."

The police also have committed widespread extrajudicial executions and
have routinely responded to suspected criminal activity with excessive
force, the letter said. Security forces have assaulted and detained
individuals, sometimes for lengthy periods without trial and without
evidence of criminal wrongdoing. Scores of people have been detained
apparently on the basis of their membership in self-determination
groups.

In the oil-rich Niger Delta, entire communities have been
indiscriminately targeted by security forces in response to local
demands for resource control and protests against environmental damage.
Human Rights Watch received reports that security forces fired
indiscriminately on villages around Warri, Delta State, during the
clashes in Warri in March 2003.

Human Rights Watch accused the government of failing to resolve the
underlying causes of widespread communal violence, in which thousands of
Nigerians have been killed since 1999. Members of the security forces,
instead of responding promptly to the first signs of conflict, in many
cases committed violations themselves during communal crises.

"President Obasanjo has repeatedly emphasized the importance of good
governance in Africa, including in the context of the New Partnership
for Africa's Development (NEPAD)," said Takirambudde. "But in Nigeria,
where he should have the greatest chance of effecting change, serious
human rights abuses so far have largely not been addressed."

Human Rights Watch also urged the government to investigate cases of
political violence, which killed hundreds of people leading up to and
during Nigeria's recent elections, and to prosecute those responsible
without regard to political affiliation.

Human Rights Watch also urged the government to address human rights
abuses that occurred in implementing Sharia and other criminal codes,
including lack of respect for due process rights and sentences that
constitute torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.

In addition to concern about violations committed since 1999, Human
Rights Watch expressed disappointment that the government has failed for
over one year to publish the final report of the Human Rights Violations
Investigations Commission (known as the Oputa Panel) set up to
investigate abuses committed under previous regimes.

The letter to President Obasanjo is available at
http://hrw.org/press/2003/07/nigeria070303ltr.htm.

For more information, please contact:
In London, Carina Tertsakian: +44.20.7713.2783
In Washington, Janet Fleischman: +1.202.612.4325

--
Jeff Scott, Ph. D.
Africa Division
Human Rights Watch
Phone: +1-212-216-1834
Fax: +1-212-736-1300
http://www.hrw.org/africa/index.php
en français, http://www.hrw.org/french/africa/