Bush Trip to Africa, July 2003
Stop Number Five: NigeriaPresident Olusegun Obasanjo is just starting his second term in office. Some aspects of Nigeria's human rights record have improved since he first came to power in 1999, heading a civilian government after close to thirty years of military rule in Nigeria, with only brief periods of civilian rule, notably from 1979-1983. But Nigerians remain skeptical of that progress as long as their government fails to bring to justice perpetrators of serious human rights abuse, especially members of the security forces. Key question for the Bush team: will they publicly call on President Obasanjo to punish members of his own security forces who are responsible for serious abuses? No one has yet been brought to justice for the military's massacre of more than two hundred unarmed civilians in Benue State in October 2001, or for their massacre of many hundreds of civilians in Odi, in Bayelsa State, in November 1999 - the two most serious single incidents of human rights violations by the military since President Obasanjo came to power in May 1999. Furthermore, the government has not provided any official response to the report of a judicial commission of inquiry into the violence in Benue and neighboring states. The military has committed many other serious abuses, not least in the oil-rich Niger delta where they have been deployed for several years, often clashing with members of local communities. The military's response to local protests against oil company operations, environmental degradation and continuing poverty has been characterized by the frequent use of excessive force and indiscriminate attacks against entire communities. As tension persists in the delta region, further outbreaks of violence seem likely. Impunity for human rights abuses is not limited to the military. Despite a number of sweeping reforms announced by the government and the Inspector General of Police, the police force has also continued to commit systematic human rights abuses across the country, ranging from extrajudicial killings to torture, arbitrary arrests, and excessive use of force in responding to recurring ethnic violence throughout Nigeria. Prosecutions of those responsible for these abuses remain rare. The same impunity has protected political candidates and members of political parties responsible for violence and intimidation around the recent elections. The United States, along with other foreign governments, welcomed the 2003 elections in Nigeria and described them as generally "peaceful." Yet hundreds of people were killed or injured in incidents of political violence in the months leading up to the elections, and scores more were killed during the actual elections in April and May 2003. Politicians of various parties, including the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP), employed thugs to terrorize their opponents and intimidate voters, with the result that in some areas, especially in the south, no voting took place at all. To date, few of those implicated in incidents of political violence have been investigated or prosecuted. The U.S. government's public silence on these issues has contributed to the general climate of impunity and has created the impression that Nigeria's foreign partners are not concerned about human rights issues. The United States has provided military assistance to Nigeria over the last four years. A recent congressional initiative suspended some Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and a program of International Military Education and Training (IMET) to Nigeria, worth more than $3 million, until the Nigerian government accounted for the military's actions in Benue. This was a welcome step, but the Bush administration should do more to demand concrete action to end impunity and prevent further human rights violations by the Nigerian military. The U.S. has supplied several boats to the Nigerian navy to patrol its coastal waters, two of which were delivered in April 2003, at a time of heightened tension in the Niger delta. Several others are due to be delivered later in 2003 or 2004. The U.S. must monitor the use of these boats as well as other equipment and assistance to ensure that they are not used to commit human rights violations. Boats have been used by the Nigerian security forces to launch indiscriminate attacks on local Niger Delta communities in the recent past. More information from Human Rights Watch is available online: Nigeria: Military Revenge in Benue: A Population Under Attack: A Human Rights Watch Report (April 2002)
Nigeria: The O'odua People's Congress (OPC): Fighting Violence with Violence, A Human Rights Watch Report (February 2003)
Nigeria: The Niger Delta: No Democratic Dividend: A Human Rights Watch Report (October 2002)
Nigeria: Testing Democracy: Political Violence in Nigeria: A Human Rights Watch Report (April 2003)
Nigeria: A Human Rights Watch letter to President Olusegun Obasanjo (April 4, 2003)
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