Stop targeting Amnesty, Falana tells Nigerian Army

Human rights lawyer, Mr. 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, Mr. 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.”

Mr. 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.”

Mr. 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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