• Nigeria: Child Lead Poisoning Crisis
    Press release
    Feb 7, 2012
    Thousands of children in northern Nigeria need immediate medical treatment and dozens of villages remain contaminated two years into the worst lead poisoning epidemic in modern history, Human Rights Watch said today while releasing a video on the issue. Four hundred children have died, according to official estimates, yet environmental cleanup efforts have not even begun in numerous affected villages.
  • Nigeria: Boko Haram Widens Terror Campaign
    Press release
    Jan 23, 2012
    The campaign of violence by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram, including attacks on churches and suicide bombings in the first three weeks of 2012 that killed more than 253 people, is an indefensible attack on human life. The January 20, 2012 attacks in the northern city of Kano left at least 185 police and residents dead and resulted in the highest death toll in a single day since Boko Haram began its violent campaign in July 2009. More than 935 people have been killed in some 164 suspected attacks by the group during this period.
  • Nigeria: Release Labor Activists
    Press release
    Jan 17, 2012

    Nigerian authorities should immediately release labor union leader Osmond Ugwu and union member Raphael Elobuike, and drop all charges, given the glaring lack of evidence in the prosecution’s case against them. The authorities should investigate state involvement in breaking up a peaceful union meeting and arresting the union activists in violation of the right to freedom of association and assembly, the groups said.

  • Nigeria: Firing of Anti-Corruption Czar Won’t Fix Agency
    Press release
    Nov 23, 2011

    The sudden dismissal of Nigeria’s controversial anti-corruption chairman will not fix the troubled agency she led. The government should carry out broad institutional reforms if Nigeria is to make real progress against corruption.

  • Nigeria: Boko Haram Attacks Indefensible
    Press release
    Nov 8, 2011
    The bombings by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram that killed at least 100 people in the northern Nigerian state of Yobe on November 4, 2011 were an indefensible attack on human life.
  • Nigeria: ‘Same Gender’ Marriage Ban Would Attack Rights
    Press release
    Nov 1, 2011
    The bill before Nigeria’s National Assembly to ban “same gender marriage” would threaten all Nigerians’ rights. The bill, under consideration for the third time in five years, would expand Nigeria’s already draconian punishments for consensual same-sex conduct and set a precedent that would threaten all Nigerians’ rights to privacy, equality, free expression, association, and to be free from discrimination.
  • Joint Memorandum to the Government of Nigeria: ‘Same Gender Marriage (Prohibition) Bill, 2011’ violates Constitution
    Letter
    Nov 1, 2011
    Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) strongly urge the Nigerian Senate not to pass the ‘Same Gender Marriage (Prohibition) Bill 2011’. On the surface, the Bill appears to limit itself to introducing criminal penalties for marriage ceremonies between persons of the same sex, with a penalty of three years’ imprisonment. However, the Bill’s provisions extend far wider. The bill seeks to criminalise anyone who ‘witnesses’, ‘aids’ or ‘abets’ such a relationship. This means that the bill now criminalises identities, and not merely behaviours. It could also penalise any human rights defenders who would seek to stand up for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people in Nigeria, as well as their friends, families and colleagues. The penalty for those who ‘witness’, ‘abet’ and ‘aid’ a same-sex relationship is five years imprisonment and/or a fine of N2000 for individuals and N50,000 for groups.
  • Nigeria: War on Corruption Hangs in the Balance
    Press release
    Aug 25, 2011
    The new administration of President Goodluck Jonathan should fix Nigeria’s key anti-corruption agency and refrain from political interference in its work. Endemic government corruption has undermined the basic rights of millions of Nigerians.
  • ICC: Prosecutor Can Spur National Trials, Deter Crimes
    Press release
    Jun 16, 2011
    The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) could better encourage national trials for international crimes and deter international crimes in “situations under analysis”. Situations under analysis – such as Afghanistan, Colombia, Georgia, and Guinea – are those countries where the ICC prosecutor is considering whether to open formal investigations.
  • Nigeria: President Should Make Rights a Priority
    Press release
    May 28, 2011
    Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, should take immediate and concrete steps to address pervasive human rights problems in Nigeria. He should focus in particular on large-scale violence, endemic corruption, and a lack of accountability for abuses. Jonathan’s inauguration, scheduled for May 29, 2011, follows post-presidential-election riots and sectarian killings in April that left more than 800 people dead in northern Nigeria.