Dear President Clinton:
Human Rights Watch welcomes the attention that your administration has focused on Africa, symbolized by your historic visit last year, Secretary Albright's most recent trip last week, and your meeting with Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo tomorrow. Nigeria's transition offers real hope that respect for human rights will contribute to stability and economic progress, and therefore we would like to take the opportunity of your meeting with President Obasanjo to raise some concerns about human rights in that country.
The situation in Nigeria has substantially improved over the last year, and the inauguration of President Obasanjo on May 29 brings hope that the long series of military governments in Nigeria may be over. Following the relaxation of repression by President Abubakar, President Obasanjo has himself taken significant steps to improve respect for human rights. Nevertheless, there are huge areas of law and practice that still need reform. In particular, we would like to highlight and ask that you raise the following issues with him during his visit.
Investigation of Past Human Rights Violations
Immediately after he became head of state, President Obasanjo announced the appointment of a seven-member commission chaired by a retired Supreme Court judge, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, to investigate "mysterious deaths" and assassinations and other human rights abuses under the military governments in office since 1984 and to make recommendations to redress past injustices and to prevent future violations. Recently, the commission's mandate was extended back to 1966, the date of the first military coup, and will therefore take in the events of the Biafran war. The commission has been widely welcomed by human rights groups in Nigeria, though it is not yet clear exactly what mandate, powers, or budget it will have, or the date by which it will have to complete its investigation and present a report.
Human Rights Watch also welcomes the appointment of this commission and believes that it has the potential to play an important role in the establishment of a truly new beginning in Nigeria - in the same way that the truth commissions in South Africa or Latin American countries have done. However, this potential will only be fulfilled if the commission is given sufficient powers, political backing and funding to enable it to carry out an independent and effective investigation, subpoena witnesses, and make recommendations, including for prosecutions where appropriate. The U.S. government should support this process. In particular, we request that you emphasize the importance for the commission to be fully independent in its operations. While, as an official body, a commission of this type is usually government-funded, and this funding should be adequate to fund staff to investigate the cases brought before it, to hold public hearings where appropriate, and to prepare a comprehensive report. The commission should have full control over its own budget, and the freedom to raise funds from other sources. In addition, the commission should be free to accept assistance from national and international civil society groups, such as human rights organizations and church structures, in conducting their investigations and to facilitate participation by victims or witnesses who do not have the resources to hire their own representatives.
The Situation in the Niger Delta
The crisis in the oil producing regions is one of the most pressing issues for the new government of Nigeria and has the greatest potential to lead to a serious deterioration in respect for human rights. The Niger Delta has for some years been the site of major confrontations between the people who live there and the Nigerian government's security forces, resulting in extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions, and draconian restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly. These violations of civil and political rights, which reached a climax during the "Ogoni crisis" of 1993 to 1996, have been committed principally in response to protests about the activities of the multinational companies that extract Nigeria's oil and the lack of local accountability for the way in which the oil revenue is used by the Nigerian government.
Since the relaxation in repression following the death of General Abacha, and in the context of the greater competition within the political environment encouraged by the elections and the installation of a civilian government, there has been a surge in demands for the government to improve the position of the different groups living in the oil producing areas. In addition there has been an increase in criminal acts such as kidnappings of oil company staff in hope of ransom payments, and violence among neighboring ethnic groups over matters such as the location of local government headquarters, crucial in the distribution of oil resources.
In response, large numbers of soldiers and paramilitary Mobile Police have been deployed across the delta. Although there is a clear need for law and order to be reestablished in those parts of the delta where the violence between neighboring ethnic groups has been worst, the security forces have both failed to protect civilians from violence in many cases, and have also themselves carried out serious and widespread violations of human rights. Security force action has often been indiscriminate, or targeted at those who have not committed any crime but have protested oil production in accordance with their rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association.
President Obasanjo visited the delta area in June 1999 and held discussions with local leaders. He traveled again to the delta to visit the new liquefied natural gas terminal Bonny, on the Atlantic Coast, following September demonstrations there which temporarily halted exports. He has promised to bring greater development to the delta, and introduced to the National Assembly a bill to establish a Niger Delta Development Commission. Most leaders of the ethnic groups based in the Niger Delta, however, have rejected the bill since it does not address their concerns surrounding revenue allocation and resource control and appears likely to duplicate similar corruption-ridden bodies created by previous administrations.
The U.S. should urge the Nigerian government, among other steps, to appoint a judicial enquiry to investigate ongoing human rights violations in the delta, and to discipline or prosecute those responsible and compensate the victims. The Oputa commission that is investigating past abuses generally has already received submissions relating to thousands of cases from Ogoniland. The government should take steps to replace soldiers carrying out policing duties in the Niger Delta area and elsewhere with regular police with training in public order policing and ensure that those police deployed have been vetted to exclude abusive officers. The government should institute an immediate, inclusive and transparent process of negotiation with freely chosen representatives of the peoples living in the Niger Delta to resolve the issues surrounding the production of oil.
Reform of the Constitution
The constitution that came into force in Nigeria on May 29 was promulgated by General Abubakar only three weeks before the new government was inaugurated, following an unrepresentative drafting process that took place virtually without consultation with the Nigerian people. The 1999 constitution was finalized by a panel appointed by General Abubakar and adopted by the military Provisional Ruling Council. There is a consensus among Nigerian civil society organizations that the process by which the constitution was adopted was illegitimate and that the arrangements in relation to a number of crucial areas, including human rights and the rule of law, the structure of the Nigerian federation and the system for revenue allocation and resource management, are not acceptable. The constitution's content raises a number of human rights concerns.
On September 9, the National Assembly announced the initiation of a review of the 1999 constitution. The Senate passed a motion for the Senate committee on the judiciary to liaise with the House of Representatives and state legislatures for this purpose. Civil society organizations are responding with an initiative to coordinate input to the process and promote popular participation.
In many ways the lack of a legitimate constitution is the fundamental problem facing Nigeria, with knock-on effects on good governance, corruption, economic policy, as well as human rights and the rule of law. We urge you to emphasize to President Obasanjo the importance of ensuring that the constitutional review process is inclusive and transparent so that it can succeed in drafting a new constitution which will be legitimate in the eyes of all Nigerians. The U.S. government should offer financial and technical assistance, as well as diplomatic support, for this process.
Thank you for your attention to these important matters.
Sincerely,
Peter Takirambudde
Executive Director, Africa Division
Human Rights Watch
cc:
- Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State, Department of State
- Susan Rice, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs
- Gayle Smith, Senior Director for African Affairs, National Security Council
- Harold Koh, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
- Eric Schwartz, Senior Director for Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs, National Security Council
- Rev. Jesse Jackson, Special Presidential Envoy for the Promotion of Democracy in Africa
