Nigeria is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and to a number of other international human rights instruments, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.6 The Nigerian military government is in violation of many if not most of the rights enumerated in these instruments.
Human Rights Watchs research for this report focused on the repressive response by the Nigerian military to protests by members of the oil producing communities to the oil companies, and to attempts to organize the minorities of the delta politically. In the course of this repression, the Nigerian military authorities violate the rights of Nigerian citizens to express their views about the oil industry in Nigeria and to organize protests at injustices resulting from oil industry activities. However, the rights violated include not only the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, but also the broader right to live in a democratic society. Ultimately, the Nigerian government must address the rights of the peoples of the Niger Delta to health, education and an adequate standard of living, including food, clothing and housing, and to participate in democratic political structures that enable their voices to be heard in matters concerning the oil industry and the development of their society.
It is clear that a solution to the human rights abuses facing the oil producing communities of the Niger Delta must take into account their relationship with the natural resources with which their region is endowed and ensure that peoples living in the delta are compensated for the damage to their environment and livelihood caused by oil production. Furthermore, it must be ensured that Nigerias oil wealth is not siphoned off by a small and unaccountable military or civilian elite, but spent by democratically elected and transparent political institutions. Delta minoritygroups have called for a renegotiation of the relationship between the peoples of the oil producing regions and the federation.7
For this to occur, the first requirement is that the government respect the rights to political participation and to freedom of expression and association, and restore the rule of law. Articles 19, 21, and 22 of the ICCPR provide for the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association. These rights may only be restricted in limited circumstances. In the case of freedom of association and assembly, restrictions are only allowed if they are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public order (ordre public), the protection of public health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
While the Nigerian government might attempt to argue that protests in the vicinity of oil installations threaten national security, it is clear that the violent repression of nonviolent protest and of attempts to organize to challenge oil company activity by peaceful means is in violation of the rights to free expression, assembly, and association, and not within any reasonable national security exception.8 If individuals have allegedly carried out violent acts, damaged property, taken hostages, or other crimes, then they should rather be charged with those offenses and promptly brought before a regular court recognizing international standards of due process.
The ICCPR provides that No one shall be subjected to torture, or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Article 7); that No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention (Article 9); and that, In the determination of any criminal charge against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law (Article 14). Article 14 of the ICCPR covers not only criminal charges, but also cases where an individual wishes to bring a civil action against another individual or company or similar legal entity for compensation for loss suffered as a result of the other partys actions. All of these articles have been regularly violated in Nigerias oil producing regions.