|
A
Year After 130 Civilians Killed in Jos, No Prosecutions,
New Abuses
The Nigerian government has not brought a single prosecution
or even begun investigations a year after Nigerian policemen
and soldiers killed more than 130 civilians in responding
to deadly sectarian clashes in the central Nigerian city
of Jos, Human Rights Watch said today. The government
should investigate and prosecute members of the security
forces implicated in these and a series of subsequent
abuses, Human Rights Watch said.
In the year since the violence in Jos, Nigerian security
forces have been implicated in other abuses and incidents
of extrajudicial killings without facing any official
sanction. In July 2009 the police in northern Nigeria
brazenly executed the leader of a militant Islamist group
in police custody. In April, police, politicians, and
election officials were implicated in election violence
and vote-rigging in Ekiti State, in southwest Nigeria.
President Umaru Yar'Adua called for investigations or
set up an investigatory panel in these cases and vowed
that those responsible would be prosecuted, but no one
has been held accountable.
"It's high time for the Nigerian government to
turn its talk and promises into tangible action," said
Corinne Dufka, senior West Africa researcher at Human
Rights Watch. "The Nigerian government owes the
families of those killed an explanation about why their
loved ones are long buried, while security personnel
implicated in the deaths are still walking around free."
On November 28-29, 2008, following a disputed local
government election, 700 people died as a result of sectarian
violence in Jos and excessive use of force by the security
forces. Human Rights Watch documented 133 cases of unlawful
killings by members of the security forces who had been
deployed to quell the sectarian violence. Police officers
or soldiers gunned down residents in their homes, chased
down and killed unarmed men trying to flee to safety,
and lined up victims on the ground and summarily executed
them.
President Yar'Adua set up a panel in December 2008 to
investigate the Jos violence, but the panel is only scheduled
to begin hearings in December 2009. The Plateau State
governor also formed a commission of inquiry, which held
hearings but failed to investigate alleged abuses by
security forces. The findings, which were submitted to
the governor on October 27, have not yet been made public.
Neither the Nigeria Police Force nor the Nigerian Army
has investigated or punished security personnel implicated
in the Jos killings.
"Given the shocking failure of the police and military
to punish those responsible, a heavy burden now rests
on the presidential panel to conduct a thorough and impartial
investigation," Dufka said.
The
violence in April in Ekiti State came during a closely
fought gubernatorial election
rerun. The police were
accused both of aiding political thugs in rigging the
election and of turning a blind eye to the violence.
President Yar'Adua acknowledged that politicians in "collaboration
with electoral and security officials" were accused
of violence and vote-rigging. On May 12, he ordered the
security agencies to investigate and prosecute those
responsible for the "violence, intimidation of voters,
[and] bribery of electoral officials." But six months
later, no police officer or public official has been
charged in any of these crimes.
The Nigerian police were also implicated in several
highly publicized extrajudicial killings in July, during
a week of clashes in northern Nigeria between security
forces and a militant Islamist group known as Boko Haram.
The violence left more than 800 people dead, most of
whom, according to government authorities, were suspected
Boko Haram members.
The Nigerian Army arrested Mohammed Yusuf, the Boko
Haram leader, on July 30 and transferred him to the state
police headquarters in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno
State. The police executed him and left his bullet-ridden
body for public display. The following day, Buji Foi,
a former state government official suspected of funding
Boko Haram, and Yusuf's 72-year-old father-in-law, Baba
Fugu Mohammed, were also reportedly killed in police
custody.
President
Yar'Adua responded on August 3 by ordering his national
security adviser to investigate
Yusuf's
death. The president said he expected the report to be
made available by the end of the week. Ten days later,
on August 13, Justice Minister Michael Aondoakaa issued
a statement to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
in Geneva insisting that the Nigerian "government
does not condone extra-judicial killing or torture and
condemns in its entirety, the unfortunate circumstances
that led to the death of Mohammed Yusuf in Police custody." Aondoakaa,
who is also the attorney general, went on to assure the
High Commissioner that "as soon as the investigative
process is completed, those found wanting will be sanctioned
accordingly."
Four months later, however, not a single police officer
has been disciplined for the killings of Yusuf or the
others who died in police custody. The police claim they
are still waiting to receive the report from the national
security adviser.
"One year after the killings in Jos, the Nigerian
government's record on accountability remains dismal," Dufka
said. "The Nigerian government simply must do more
to end the deadly cycle of violence by the very state
agents who are supposed to be protecting the Nigerian
people."
source:.hrw.org
|
