Nigeria - Human Rights Priorities for New Govt Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source - bmanby@gn.apc.org For Release May 27, 1999; 00:01 GMT Three Human Rights Organisations set Priorities for New Nigerian Government On the eve of President Obasanjos inauguration as president of Nigeria, Human Rights Watch has joined with two leading Nigerian human rights organisations, the Civil Liberties Organisation and the Constitutional Rights Project, to write to the president-elect outlining human rights priorities for the new government. Human Rights Watch also releases today a new report on the situation in the Niger Delta, detailing the ongoing crisis in that region. "After decades of military rule, Nigeria faces huge challenges to restore respect for human rights and the rule of law," said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch. "But there are certain first steps that President Obasanjo can take to show that he is moving in the right direction." Among the priorities listed by the three groups are the repeal of repressive military decrees, the release of the bodies of Ken Saro- Wiwa and his codefendants hanged in 1995, and the initiation of a transparent process to draft a new constitution. In a twenty-five page report, "Crackdown in the Niger Delta," Human Rights Watch also draws attention to the crisis among Nigerias oil producing communities, where serious human rights violations have continued unabated, despite the relaxation of repression elsewhere in Nigeria since the death of former head of state General Sani Abacha in June 1998. Among the incidents highlighted is an attack on two remote communities in January 1999, for which the Nigerian army used a helicopter and boats contracted to Chevron Nigeria. The report is an update to The Price of Oil, a 200-page Human Rights Watch report on corporate responsibility in the oil producing communities in Nigeria released in February 1999. "Chevron Nigeria must take a long hard look at its security relationship with the Nigerian government," Peter Takirambudde said. "The company appears to think it has no responsibilities to try to ensure respect for human rights in the area of its operations." The report also examines the military response to initially peaceful demonstrations against oil production in the Niger Delta in late December and early January, concluding that more than one hundred people, mostly unarmed, were killed by soldiers. In addition to investigation of these and other human rights violations and the prosecution or disciplining of those responsible, Human Rights Watch recommends that Nigerias government initiate 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. The full text of the letter to President Obasanjo is attached, together with the summary and recommendations from the report. Copies of the full report are available on the Human Rights Watch website at . For further information: Bronwen Manby, London +44 171 713 1995 Peter Takirambudde, New York +1 212 216 1223 OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT-ELECT OBASANJO 27 May 1999 Dear President-Elect Obasanjo After decades of military rule, Nigeria faces huge challenges to restore respect for human rights and the rule of law. While there are many pressing issues for your government to address, we are writing to you as human rights organizations to bring to your attention several priority matters. * The lack of a democratically drafted constitution The constitution that has finally been signed into law by General Abubakar is the product of a military government and an undemocratic process. We believe your government should treat this constitution as an interim document and should institute an immediate, inclusive, and transparent process for drafting a new constitution which will be legitimate in the eyes of all Nigerians. * Repeal of repressive decrees and general review of laws Military decrees remain in force suspending constitutional guarantees of respect for fundamental human rights, allowing detention without trial, ousting the jurisdiction of the courts to examine executive acts, restricting freedom of expression, establishing military or special tribunals to try criminal offences without respect for international standards of due process and permitting other acts in violation of international human rights law. As an indication of your commitment to respect for human rights, we call on you to take immediate steps to repeal the most notorious decrees, including Decree No.2 of 1984, which allows indefinite detention without trial, and, in conjunction with the National Human Rights Commission and the nongovernmental human rights community, to institute a comprehensive process of review of the laws in force, with a view to the repeal or amendment of those that do not comply with the international human rights standards to which Nigeria is committed. * Recent detentions Over the last few weeks, there have been a number of arrests of journalists and union leaders critical of the government. Lanre Arogundade, chairman of the Lagos State council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) was arrested on April 25, and charged with the murder of Bolade Fasasi, a former official of the NUJ. There appears to be no evidence that Arogundade was in fact involved in the murder, and it seems that his arrest may have been motivated rather by his campaigns for press freedom. Union leaders among civil servants have also been arrested and removed from their jobs. We urge you to order an immedate review of these cases, and in particular to ensure that the investigation of the murder of Fasasi is thorough and impartial and that the charges against Arogundade are dropped immediately if there is found to be no evidence implicating him in the murder. * The Ogoni trial The trial and execution in November 1995 of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the eight other Ogoni activists has been condemned around the world, including by a factfinding mission sent by the U.N. Secretary- General, as in flagrant violation of international standards of due process. The bodies of the nine men have never been released to their families for proper burial; recently General Abubakar refused once again to respond to appeals to do so. As the victim yourself of a miscarriage of justice which sent you to prison for three years, we believe you should be quick to act to address these issues. In line with the findings and recommendations made by national and international monitoring bodies, we urge you to take immediate steps on taking office to issue a formal statement that the executions were a miscarriage of justice, to release the bodies of those hanged to their families, and to pay compensation as suggested by the U.N. Secretary-Generals factfinding team. In addition, we urge you to appoint a judicial enquiry into the Ogoni crisis of 1993-98, including the murders of the four Ogoni leaders for whose deaths Ken Saro-Wiwa and his codefendants were hanged; to examine the human rights violations that were committed by members of the Rivers State Internal Security Task Force and others; and make recommendations for disciplinary or criminal proceedings against those responsible, compensation for the victims, and other measures of redress. * The situation in the Niger Delta While the human rights situation in most of Nigeria has improved over the past nine months, the situation in the Niger Delta area has deteriorated. There has been increasing protest at oil company activity and federal government failure to listen to the demands of the peoples of the delta. In response, large numbers of soldiers have been deployed in the area, and have carried out serious and widespread violations of human rights, in particular in the course of a military crackdown in late December 1998 and early January 1999 which led to the deaths of dozens of young men, most of them unarmed. While protest has included criminal acts such as kidnappings of expatriate oil company staff, or violence against neighbouring ethnic groups, the appropriate response to such acts must be to arrest and prosecute those responsible, not to carry out indiscriminate reprisals against the entire population of the oil- producing regions. We urge your administration to focus as a matter of urgency on the restoration of respect for human rights and the rule of law in the delta region. Among other steps, the government should appoint an independent judicial enquiry to investigate the human rights violations in the delta, including over the New Year period, and should discipline or prosecute those responsible, compensate the victims, and release or charge those who are still detained. In addition, your government should replace soldiers carrying out policing duties in the Niger Delta area and elsewhere with regular police with training in public order policing. We also urge you to 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. * Restoration of the justice system Nigerias court system is in a state of near-collapse. The police are responsible for widespread violations, including extrajudicial executions. Prison conditions are life-threatening. There is an urgent need to focus on these and other issues relating to the administration of justice, in conjunction with the national Human Rights Commission and the human rights community in Nigeria, as well as international agencies who can give technical assistance, in order to help restore respect for human rights and the rule of law -- respect that is essential not only for the rights of the Nigerian people, but also to promote the sort of external investment that will be necessary to bring Nigeria out of its current economic crisis. * Problems with the electoral process Although most international and domestic observers of the local, state and federal elections in Nigeria welcomed their peaceful completion as an important step forward in the return of Nigeria to civilian government, they also noted serious flaws in the process at all stages. These irregularities included inflated figures for voter turnout, stuffing of ballot boxes, intimidation and bribery of both electoral officials and voters, and alteration of results at collation centres. These irregularities were widespread, but were particularly serious in the South-South zone of the country, the Niger Delta region. In addition, money clearly played a dominant role at the party primaries, including the presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). We urge you to work with national and international organizations in order to ensure that the next elections held in Nigeria do represent a more genuine process. Yours sincerely, Abdul Oroh Executive Director Civil Liberties Organisation Clement Nwankwo Executive Director Constitutional Rights Project Peter Takirambudde Executive Director, Africa Division Human Rights Watch NIGERIA: CRACKDOWN IN THE NIGER DELTA May 1999 I. INTRODUCTION The Niger Delta has for some years been the site of major confrontations between the people who live there and the Nigerian governments 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 have been committed principally in response to protests about the activities of the multinational companies that produce Nigerias oil and the use made of the oil revenue by the Nigerian government. Although the succession by Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar as head of state in June 1998 brought a significant relaxation in the repression the late Gen. Sani Abacha inflicted on the Nigerian people, human rights abuses in the oil producing communities continue and the basic situation in the delta remains unchanged. When he took office, General Abubakar canceled the "transition program" established by General Abacha -- which had apparently been designed to install the military head of state as a "civilian" president, released political prisoners, and instituted a fresh transition program under conditions of greater openness. Local, state, and national elections were held in December 1998 and January and February 1999, and were intended to lead to the inauguration of a civilian government, headed by president-elect and former military head of state Olusegun Obasanjo, on May 29, 1999. Since the death of Abacha, and in the context of the greater competition within the political environment encouraged by the elections, 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 particular, members of the Ijaw ethnic group, the fourth largest in Nigeria, adopted the Kaiama Declaration on December 11, 1998, which claimed ownership of all natural resources found in Ijaw territory. There has also been an increase in incidents in which protesters have occupied oil industry flow stations and stopped production or taken oil workers hostage. In February 1999, Human Rights Watch published a 200-page report, The Price of Oil: Corporate Responsibility and Human Rights Violations in Nigerias Oil Producing Communities, which examined human rights violations connected to the suppression of protest at oil company activities. The report went to press before details of a security force crackdown in the Niger Delta in late December 1998 and January 1999 were available. The current short report describes those events, on the basis of interviews conducted in the delta region during February 1999. We conclude that the military crackdown in Bayelsa and Delta States in late December 1998 and early January 1999 led to the deaths of several dozens of people, and probably more than one hundred; the torture and inhuman treatment of others; and the arbitrary detention of many more. These abuses took place as a response to demonstrations held by Ijaw youths in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State, and Kaiama, a community an hour away by road. The demonstrations were initially peaceful, and the majority of those killed were unarmed. Some were summarily executed. In another incident, two communities in Delta State were attacked by soldiers, using a helicopter and boats commandeered from a facility operated by Chevron, following an alleged confrontation that took place at a nearby Chevron drilling rig. More than fifty people may have died in these incidents. Chevron has asserted that it had no choice in allowing its contractors equipment to be used in this way. The company did not issue any public protest at the killings; nor has it stated that it will take any steps to avoid similar incidents in the future. Soldiers remain deployed in the riverine areas of Bayelsa and Delta States. While there are genuine security concerns relating to kidnappings of oil workers and to inter-community conflict, especially in Delta State, these soldiers are responsible for ongoing human rights violations. These violations range from routine extortion of money at roadblocks to arbitrary detention and torture. On a few occasions, individuals have also been summarily executed. The recent elections were deeply flawed in many parts of Nigeria, but the elections held in the South-South zone, the area including the oil producing communities of the Niger Delta, were particularly problematic. Observers noted widespread electoral irregularities in Rivers, Bayelsa, and Delta States, those most troubled by recent protests. Following the completion of the election process, the government of General Abubakar appointed a committee to consider the needs of the Niger Delta, which has recommended the immediate disbursement of 15.3 billion naira ( ), U.S.$170 million, on development projects and the establishment of a Niger Delta Consultative Council, made up of government figures and representatives of the oil companies, to oversee development projects. General Abubakars government has also held discussions with selected leaders from, in particular, the Ijaw ethnic group, in relation to this plan. The crisis in the oil producing regions will be one of the most pressing issues for the new government of Nigeria when it takes office on May 29. The level of anger against the federal government and the oil companies among the residents of the oil producing communities means that further protest is likely, as are further incidents of hostage taking and other criminal acts. The crackdown in the Niger Delta over the New Year indicates the extent to which the current government, which has otherwise showed increased respect for human rights, is still prepared to use military force to crush peaceful protest, rather than to seek to address the issues being protested. Yet any attempt to achieve a military solution will certainly result in widespread and serious violations of Nigerias commitments to respect internationally recognized human rights. To avoid a human rights crisis, the incoming government must allow the peoples of the Niger Delta to select their own representatives and to participate in decision- making concerning the future course of the region. The flawed nature of the elections makes it all the more essential that attempts to address the grievances of the delta communities involve discussions with individuals who are freely chosen by the communities of the delta and with a mandate to represent their interests, rather than with individuals chosen by the government as representative. In addition, the government must take steps to reestablish respect for human rights and the rule of law, and to end continuing human rights violations resulting from the deployment of soldiers in the delta region. The oil companies operating in Nigeria also share a responsibility to ensure that oil production does not continue at the cost of violations of the rights of those who live in the areas where oil is produced. Given the deteriorating security situation in the delta, it is all the more urgent for the companies to adopt systematic steps to ensure that the legitimate protection of company staff and property does not result in summary executions, arbitrary detentions, and other violations. Systematic monitoring and protest of human rights violations by the government, and steps to ensure that the companies themselves are not complicit in such human rights violations, are more important than ever. II. RECOMMENDATIONS Human Rights Watch made extensive recommendations in our report The Price of Oil: Corporate Responsibility and Human Rights Violations in Nigerias Oil Producing Communities. In addition to the steps set out in that report, Human Rights Watch makes the following recommendations to the Nigerian government, the oil companies, and the international community. To the Current Military and Incoming Civilian Nigerian Governments: * Appoint judicial inquiries into the events in Yenagoa and Kaiama, Bayelsa State, during late 1998 and early 1999, and into the attacks on Opia and Ikenyan, Delta State, on January 4, 1999. Publish the reports, institute criminal and disciplinary proceedings, as appropriate, against those responsible for violations of human rights, and pay appropriate compensation to the victims and their relatives. * 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. * Replace soldiers carrying out policing duties in the Niger Delta area and elsewhere with regular police. Immediately withdraw military units suspected of or known to have committed abuses, and, following judicial inquiries, withdraw units identified as abusive. To Chevron Nigeria Ltd: * Publicly condemn the human rights violations carried out at Opia and Ikenyan by the Nigerian military and make clear to the Nigerian government that equipment owned by Chevron or its contractors will not be made available to the army in future unless proper safeguards are in place to ensure that similar gross violations of human rights do not occur, including written agreements relating to the commandeering of oil company facilities or equipment. * Develop written guidelines on the provision of security for Chevron facilities and cooperation with government security forces, including rules ensuring the proportionate use of force as well as proper authorization and human rights safeguards should the military seek to commandeer the companys equipment. To Multilateral Institutions and Nigerias Bilateral Trading Partners: * In discussions with the current and incoming Nigerian governments, insist on the need for investigation and punishment of human rights violations committed in connection with the incidents described in this report, for compensation to be paid to the victims, and for a negotiated solution to the crisis in the Niger Delta. * Insist to oil companies operating in Nigeria that they should adopt measures (including those recommended in Human Rights Watchs report The Price of Oil) to ensure that human rights violations are not committed in connection with their operations. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytaf-06.02.99-17:43:01-9929