The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has
petitioned the Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and
Peoples’ Rights requesting “the urgent intervention of the Bureau
of the Commission to end the ongoing human rights violations of
naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum seekers forcibly
returned to their country by the Nigerian authorities.”
The organization urged the Chairperson and Bureau of the
Commission “to urgently hold an extra-ordinary session of the
African Commission to address the illegal and unfair return of 51
Cameroon refugees, asylum seekers and naturalized Nigerians, and
the continuing violations of the rights of the returnees by the
government of Cameroon.”
The organization also urged the Commission to “speak out
strongly and condemn the unfair treatment of the refugees, asylum
seekers and naturalized Nigerians by the government of Cameroon,
and request the government to immediately release them from
unlawful detention.”
The petition, dated February 2, 2018 and signed by SERAP’s
Deputy Director, Timothy Adewale, stated: “International law is
very clear on the fact that individuals, including asylum seekers,
even if they have entered the country illegally, are entitled to
enjoy human rights. SERAP is seriously concerned that forced return
of naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum seekers is both
legally and morally wrong, and would set a bad precedent for the
rest of the sub-region.
“Naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum seekers came to
Nigeria for protection and to escape the gross violations of
fundamental human rights in Cameroon. By returning them to
Cameroon, Nigerian authorities have failed to provide reasonable
opportunity to them to establish their case through judicial review
of the risk of persecution, torture and other human rights abuses
in Cameroon.”
The petition read in part: “The government of Cameroon is also
reportedly violating the rights of returned naturalized Nigerians,
refugees and asylum seekers to personal liberty, freedom of
movement (including the right to leave their country), fair trials,
freedom of expression and depriving them of their liberty to be
treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the
human person. The situation in Cameroon is characterized
bywidespread and massive violations of human rights and
humanitarian law with growing numbers of victims lacking access to
an effective remedy.
“Cameroon’s treatment of the returned naturalised Nigerians,
refugees and asylum seekers falls with the ‘worst crimes’ of the
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which in article
7 defines crimes against humanity to mean acts such as deportation,
imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty in violation of
fundamental rules of international law, torture and other similar
acts that are committed as part of a widespread or systematic
attack directed against any civilian population.
“Both Nigeria and Cameroon do not have any extradition treaty.
We consider the forced return of Cameroon asylum seekers from
Nigeria illegal and unfair, as it failed to meet a high standard of
procedural fairness and justice. Both Nigeria and Cameroon have
ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and
United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
“According to our information, the Nigerian authorities
illegally and unfairly returned naturalized Nigerians, refugees and
asylum seekers on Friday, January 26, 2018. The returnees are
mostly leaders of the people of Southern Cameroon and who have been
living in Nigeria for several years.
“SERAP argues that the government of Nigeria breaches its
international obligations including those requiring the government
to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers are not returned to
jurisdictions such as Cameroon, where they would face persecution
and human rights violations, such as torture and other
ill-treatment. Nigeria is also bound by the principle of
non-refoulement, the obligation not to return a refugee to a
country where he is at risk of persecution.
“Similarly, both Nigeria and Cameroon are states parties to the
UN Convention against Torture which in article 3 provides that no
State Party shall return, refoul or extradite a person to another
State where there are grounds for believing that that person would
be in danger of being subjected to torture.
“SERAP also notes that asylum or in other words the possibility
for an individual to seek refuge is recognised in Article 14 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights as “a fundamental human
right.” The Declaration guarantees the right to life, liberty and
security, to equal protection of the law and the right to seek and
to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. As such, the
Nigerian authorities should have afforded the naturalized
Nigerians, refugees and asylum seekers their basic human rights
including the right to a fair trial.
“Article 5 of the African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights,
which prohibits torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by
been interpreted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’
Rights as including a prohibition of returning a person to a
country where he or she would face torture, cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment.”
SERAP therefore urged the Chairperson and Bureau of the African
Commission to:
1. Urgently hold an extra-ordinary session of the African
Commission to address the illegal and unfair return of 52
naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum seekers, and the
continuing violations of the rights of the returnees by the
government of Cameroon;
2. Publicly condemn Nigeria’s forced return of the 52
naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum seekers to Cameroon
without any consideration whatsoever of their claims for
protection, and thereby putting them at serious risk of persecution
in their country;
3. Hold Nigeria and Cameroon to account for violating the rights
of the 52 naturalized Nigerians, refugees’ and asylum seekers’
rights to freedom from torture and other human rights;
4. Make an official visit to Cameroon with special rapporteurs
having relevant mandates and to put pressure on the authorities to
release the returnees from unlawful detention and end the
politically motivated trial of naturalized Nigerians, refugees and
asylum seekers;
5. Hold that the continuing detention, mistreatment and unfair
trial of the returned naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum
seekers by the government of Cameroon amount to cruel and degrading
treatment and in conflict with the country’s human rights
obligations, including under the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights;
6. Ask the government of Nigeria to seek the guarantee of
government of Cameroon about the safety of the returnees, and that
they would afford the returnees fair trial while they remain in the
country.
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has
petitioned the Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and
Peoples’ Rights requesting “the urgent intervention of the Bureau
of the Commission to end the ongoing human rights violations of
naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum seekers forcibly
returned to their country by the Nigerian authorities.”
The organization urged the Chairperson and Bureau of the
Commission “to urgently hold an extra-ordinary session of the
African Commission to address the illegal and unfair return of 51
Cameroon refugees, asylum seekers and naturalized Nigerians, and
the continuing violations of the rights of the returnees by the
government of Cameroon.”
The organization also urged the Commission to “speak out
strongly and condemn the unfair treatment of the refugees, asylum
seekers and naturalized Nigerians by the government of Cameroon,
and request the government to immediately release them from
unlawful detention.”
The petition, dated February 2, 2018 and signed by SERAP’s
Deputy Director, Timothy Adewale, stated: “International law is
very clear on the fact that individuals, including asylum seekers,
even if they have entered the country illegally, are entitled to
enjoy human rights. SERAP is seriously concerned that forced return
of naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum seekers is both
legally and morally wrong, and would set a bad precedent for the
rest of the sub-region.
“Naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum seekers came to
Nigeria for protection and to escape the gross violations of
fundamental human rights in Cameroon. By returning them to
Cameroon, Nigerian authorities have failed to provide reasonable
opportunity to them to establish their case through judicial review
of the risk of persecution, torture and other human rights abuses
in Cameroon.”
The petition read in part: “The government of Cameroon is also
reportedly violating the rights of returned naturalized Nigerians,
refugees and asylum seekers to personal liberty, freedom of
movement (including the right to leave their country), fair trials,
freedom of expression and depriving them of their liberty to be
treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the
human person. The situation in Cameroon is characterized
bywidespread and massive violations of human rights and
humanitarian law with growing numbers of victims lacking access to
an effective remedy.
“Cameroon’s treatment of the returned naturalised Nigerians,
refugees and asylum seekers falls with the ‘worst crimes’ of the
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which in article
7 defines crimes against humanity to mean acts such as deportation,
imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty in violation of
fundamental rules of international law, torture and other similar
acts that are committed as part of a widespread or systematic
attack directed against any civilian population.
“Both Nigeria and Cameroon do not have any extradition treaty.
We consider the forced return of Cameroon asylum seekers from
Nigeria illegal and unfair, as it failed to meet a high standard of
procedural fairness and justice. Both Nigeria and Cameroon have
ratified the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and
United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
“According to our information, the Nigerian authorities
illegally and unfairly returned naturalized Nigerians, refugees and
asylum seekers on Friday, January 26, 2018. The returnees are
mostly leaders of the people of Southern Cameroon and who have been
living in Nigeria for several years.
“SERAP argues that the government of Nigeria breaches its
international obligations including those requiring the government
to ensure that refugees and asylum seekers are not returned to
jurisdictions such as Cameroon, where they would face persecution
and human rights violations, such as torture and other
ill-treatment. Nigeria is also bound by the principle of
non-refoulement, the obligation not to return a refugee to a
country where he is at risk of persecution.
“Similarly, both Nigeria and Cameroon are states parties to the
UN Convention against Torture which in article 3 provides that no
State Party shall return, refoul or extradite a person to another
State where there are grounds for believing that that person would
be in danger of being subjected to torture.
“SERAP also notes that asylum or in other words the possibility
for an individual to seek refuge is recognised in Article 14 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights as “a fundamental human
right.” The Declaration guarantees the right to life, liberty and
security, to equal protection of the law and the right to seek and
to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. As such, the
Nigerian authorities should have afforded the naturalized
Nigerians, refugees and asylum seekers their basic human rights
including the right to a fair trial.
“Article 5 of the African Charter of Human and Peoples’ Rights,
which prohibits torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by
been interpreted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’
Rights as including a prohibition of returning a person to a
country where he or she would face torture, cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment.”
SERAP therefore urged the Chairperson and Bureau of the African
Commission to:
1. Urgently hold an extra-ordinary session of the African
Commission to address the illegal and unfair return of 52
naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum seekers, and the
continuing violations of the rights of the returnees by the
government of Cameroon;
2. Publicly condemn Nigeria’s forced return of the 52
naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum seekers to Cameroon
without any consideration whatsoever of their claims for
protection, and thereby putting them at serious risk of persecution
in their country;
3. Hold Nigeria and Cameroon to account for violating the rights
of the 52 naturalized Nigerians, refugees’ and asylum seekers’
rights to freedom from torture and other human rights;
4. Make an official visit to Cameroon with special rapporteurs
having relevant mandates and to put pressure on the authorities to
release the returnees from unlawful detention and end the
politically motivated trial of naturalized Nigerians, refugees and
asylum seekers;
5. Hold that the continuing detention, mistreatment and unfair
trial of the returned naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum
seekers by the government of Cameroon amount to cruel and degrading
treatment and in conflict with the country’s human rights
obligations, including under the African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights;
6. Ask the government of Nigeria to seek the guarantee of
government of Cameroon about the safety of the returnees, and that
they would afford the returnees fair trial while they remain in the
country.