<<previous  |  index  |  next>>

This report is based in large part on research carried out in Nigeria during July 2003 and on subsequent telephone interviews during and after the elections of April and May 2003. It was written by Karen Stauss and Carina Tertsakian, researchers in the Africa division. It was reviewed by Corinne Dufka, researcher in the Africa division; Georgette Gagnon, deputy director of the Africa division; James Ross, senior legal advisor at Human Rights Watch; and Iain Levine, Program Director.

Our first debt of gratitude is to victims and witnesses of human rights abuses who were willing to speak with us about their experiences. Many of their names have been withheld, but we acknowledge the contributions of all of them. We thank the many Nigerian non-governmental organizations that assisted us in our research, especially the Transition Monitoring Group, the Civil Liberties Organisation, the Ebonyi Human Rights Centre, the Institute for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, and Environmental Rights Action. We are also grateful to police, government officials and political party officials who were willing to speak candidly with us.

We thank the Leonard H. Sandler Fellowship Program and the Macarthur Foundation for their support for this research.