"Rest in Pieces"

Police Torture and Deaths in Custody in Nigeria

I. Summary

II. Recommendations

To the Nigerian federal and state governments and the police authorities

To the Judiciary

To the U.K. Department for International Development (DFID), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and other donors

III. Methods

IV. Background: Attitudes Towards Policing

History of Policing in Pre-Colonial and Colonial Nigeria

Structure and Organization of the Nigerian Police Force

V. Deaths in Police Custody

VI. Torture and Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

Types of Torture or Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment

Who is Targeted

Arrest of Friends or Relatives of a Suspect

Torture and Ill-Treatment of Members of Self-Determination Groups

The Purpose

The Perpetrators

Torture and Ill-Treatment in the Custody of Other Law Enforcement Agencies

The Location

The Right to Freedom from Torture

VII. Rape by the Police

VIII. Abusive Conditions of Detention and Denial of Medical Treatment

IX. Lack of Due Process of Law..

Acceptance of Forced Confessions

Failure to be Informed of Grounds for Arrest

Absence of Legal Representation

Prolonged Pre-Trial Detention

X. Obstacles to Redress

Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions

Police Complaints Bureau

The 'Orderly Room Trial'

The Police Service Commission

National Human Rights Commission

Inquests and Autopsies

Societal Attitudes to Torture and Police Abuses

XI. Police Reform...

Review of the Police Act

Donor Governments' Support for Police Reform...

XII. Conclusion

XIII. Acknowledgements