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IX. RECOMMENDATIONS

To the Government and Security Forces

The Nigerian Government and Security Forces are urged to:

· Diligently pursue the investigation and prosecution of people suspected of participating in political violence, including both the organizers and the perpetrators of political violence, regardless of political affiliation.
· Prevent government institutions, such as the federal police, from being used by individual politicians seeking to advance their own political interests. Police with electoral duties must enforce the law impartially, without regard to a perpetrator's political affiliation.
· Continue to make statements condemning political violence and promote campaigns to prevent political violence.
· Deploy security forces impartially and in sufficient numbers to ensure security for voters and candidates.
· Ensure the security of independent and party-based election monitors and facilitate their work on election days.
· In the case of outbreaks of political violence, arrest only those persons engaged in illegal acts, and do not resort to extrajudicial executions or other excessive use of force in containing violence or effecting arrests. When police do commit abuses, they must be prosecuted.
· Promote cooperation between the Police Service Commission (PSC) and the Nigeria Police Force to discipline officers who break general police guidelines or the PSC's "Guidelines for the Conduct of Police Officers on Electoral Duty in Nigeria."
· Consider appropriate law reform in the aftermath of elections to ensure an environment of respect for human rights during future election periods. Strengthening INEC's independence, including a requirement that commission members be drawn from across the political spectrum, would help reduce grievances that can lead to violence. Strengthening the independence of the PSC could enhance accountability within the police department and thereby reduce police-instigated violence in the election context.
· Strengthen campaigns to increase public awareness of voting procedures.

There are several steps that INEC can take to address concerns of politicians, their supporters, and ordinary citizens, which will help reduce the likelihood of violence erupting on election days or in the aftermath. These include:

· Introduce transparency into the process of counting ballots and returning results. The state independent electoral commissions (SIECs) are also urged to finalize plans for local elections as soon as possible, providing for a transparent electoral process.
· Facilitate the work of independent election monitors and party observers on election days, and ensure that the criteria and guidelines for participation have been clearly explained in advance and are closely followed.
· Continue to encourage parties to avoid electoral violence, intimidation and fraud, and monitor their compliance with the political parties' code of conduct.
· Ensure that INEC staff, including temporary staff, who participated in abuses during the voter registration exercise are not employed again during the general elections.

To the Political Parties

Political parties and candidates are urged to:

· Discourage political violence by party supporters, publicize opposition to political violence, and assist the authorities in investigating any acts of political violence that occur.
· Deploy party election monitors according to INEC requirements, and ensure that they cooperate with security forces, election officials, independent monitors, and especially with monitors from the other parties.
· Be vigilant in the period following elections to prevent acts of political violence by political supporters. Candidates should use proper legal channels to pursue any electoral complaints.
· Refrain from making unfounded accusations against political opponents when political associates are killed or attacked.
· Initiate investigations and party disciplinary action, as appropriate, in addition to cooperating with criminal investigations, when party members are accused of violence.
· Refrain from invoking religion, ethnicity or "indigene" status to build political support or erode opponents'.
· For future elections, strengthen (or abide more closely by) constitutional provisions that create more transparent methods of reporting primary results.
· Sign on to the political parties' code of conduct developed in cooperation with INEC, and abide by and continue to develop provisions that prohibit violence and require respect for human rights.

To Foreign Governments and Intergovernmental Organizations

Foreign governments, including other African countries, the United States and the United Kingdom, and intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations, the African Union and the European Union are urged to:

· Maintain pressure on the Nigerian government to prosecute perpetrators of political violence and other human rights violations, not only in high profile cases but also in documented cases of violent clashes by small "armed forces" used by politicians.
· Publicly emphasize the importance of violence-free elections.
· Ensure that international observer delegations remain in place long enough to include post-election events in their election assessment, as well as reporting on incidents of political violence leading up to the elections.
· Seek to deploy observers for local government elections.
· Report publicly and candidly all observations of international observer delegations.
· African countries participating in NEPAD's Peer Review Mechanism are particularly encouraged to maintain pressure on the Nigerian government to end impunity for rights violations, including political violence.

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