Amnesty International (AI), has declared that the Nigerian
government uses enforced disappearances to instill fear into the civilian
population in areas of the country affected by conflict and insecurity. AI made
the declaration on 30 August, the International Day of the Disappeared.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the organization expressed
fear that hundreds of people are being held in secret detention centers across
the country, a conduct prohibited under the International Convention for the
Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.
AI noted that Nigeria is a state party to the International
Convention and called on the Federal Government to release details on the fate
and whereabouts of all victims of enforced disappearance.
“Many families of the victims of enforced disappearance
spend painful years searching for justice, truth, and reparation, but are
ignored or misled about the fate of their relatives. The authorities must do
the right thing now by releasing all of them or disclosing information about
their fate or whereabouts,” in a statement from the Director of AI
Nigeria, Mr. Osai Ojigho.
The human rights watchdog disclosed that its research
revealed that most enforced disappearances take place in the North-eastern part
of the country, where young men are regularly arrested by the military after
being accused of links to Boko Haram. AI added that it obtained details of men,
women, and children victims of enforced disappearance in other parts of
Nigeria.
According to AI, the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) said
at least 600 of its members’ whereabouts remain unknown since the group clashed
with the military in Zaria, Kaduna State, in December 2015. The rights
organization also said over 350 people are believed to have been unlawfully
killed by the military between 12 and 14 December 2015.
AI disclosed that its interaction with families of some of
the victims yielded harrowing tales of the long wait for justice.
Mrs. Zainab Isa, according to AI, said the whereabouts and
fate of her husband, Abdullahi Abbas, and their six children remain unknown
since 14 December 2015, following the IMN/military clashes in Zaria.
"He sells books at the Husainiyyah where the clashes took
place. All six of our children were with him that day. Up to now, we don’t know
their fate. We don’t know whether the seven (7) of them are alive or dead and
no one is giving us any information that can ease our pain," AI quoted the
traumatized woman.
Another man feeling the pain is Mr. Ibrahim Aliyu, who
remains in the dark over the fate and whereabouts of his three brothers
arrested by the State Security Services since 2012.
“Before my three brothers disappeared, we used to contribute
money to support our extended family. Now without them, the burden is entirely
on my shoulder. I have to do everything: Take care of their families and
provide for our mother. Our mother is now perpetually sick because she thinks a
lot about my brothers' fate. Sometimes I feel I can’t bear the pain anymore,”
he told AI dejectedly.
AI used the occasion of the International Day of the
Disappeared to call on the Nigerian government to investigate all cases of
enforced disappearances and bring all those suspected of criminal
responsibility to justice in fair trials before ordinary civilian courts and
without recourse to the death penalty.
Additionally, it called on the government to provide
comprehensive reparations to victims and their families. The reparations,
it stated, must include compensation, rehabilitation, restitution, and be
satisfactory, as well as offer guarantees of non-repetition.
"We call on authorities to investigate cases of enforced
disappearance across Nigeria to end this crime under international law that
makes the victims vulnerable to torture and other human rights violations. The
families of the victims of enforced disappearance have already waited too long
for answers. They deserve justice, truth, and reparation now," said Mr. Ojigho.
Enforced disappearances, AI, said are carried out by state
agents or individuals acting on their instigation. AI stated that the
deprivation of liberty is accompanied by a refusal to acknowledge that victims
are being held or their fate or whereabouts are deliberately concealed.
The situation, it added, places victims outside the protection of the
law.
The pattern of enforced disappearance, said the watchdog,
begins with the arrest of victims, who are almost never arraigned in court, and
whose alleged crimes are never recorded. Once out of the public glare, victims
are at great risk of ill-treatment, torture, and even death.
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