NHRC Governing Council: Decisions & Communique

COMMUNIQUE ISSUED BY THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION AT THE END OF ITS 3RD ( 2014) STATUTORY MEETING HELD IN OWERRI, IMO STATE.

The Governing Council of the National Human Rights Commission held its 3rd (2014) Statutory meeting at Owerri Imo State on 9-11 October 2014. At the end of the deliberations, Council issued the following communiqué:

1. SECURITY SITUATION IN THE NORTH EAST
i. Council received and deliberated upon a report on the state of human rights in Nigeria, particularly the security situation arising from the insurgency in the North-East which has led to serious and massive violations of human rights, mass atrocities and international crimes committed mostly by the insurgents.

ii. Council reiterates its earlier position that the deteriorating security situation constitutes a threat to stable governance in Nigeria.

iii. Council acknowledges the relentless efforts by the armed forces to end the insurgency and in particular salutes the bravery and sacrifice of the men and women of the armed forces who have lost their lives in the defence of the country against insurgency. Council therefore commiserates with families of these departed Service Men and Women.

2. FORCED DISPLACEMENT AND FOOD SECURITY CRISES
i. Council notes that the growing insurgency in the North-East which has forced over one million persons into internal displacement in North East Nigeria and also many more as refugees into neighbouring countries including Chad, Cameroun and Niger.

ii. Council is concerned that Nigeria has today become one of the leading producers of internally displaced persons and refugees globally with the attendant consequences on the vulnerable groups, particularly women, children and the aged.

iii. The security situation in the North-East has forcibly displaced farming and fishing communities out of their livelihoods, destroyed successive farming seasons and created an alarming food security crisis in the region.

iv. Council reiterates the legal obligations of Nigeria as a state party to the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention) to ensure the effective protection of the human rights, dignity and well-being of all persons affected by internal displacement in Nigeria.

v. Council therefore calls for effective inter-agency collaboration in urgently addressing the situation of forced displacement in Nigeria.

vi. Council further emphasises the shared obligations of the Federal Government and international partners, especially within the United Nations system, to cooperate and share burdens in finding urgent and durable solutions to the food security and humanitarian crises in the North-East.

vii. Council decides to accord priority to monitoring as well as advocacy for the protection of the human rights of persons and communities affected by forced displacement in Nigeria.

viii. Council further calls attention to urgent need to guarantee access to education and safe schooling of children affected by displacement.

3. CASES AND COMPLAINTS
Council considered 275 cases and complaints and disposed of 62 cases. In addition, Council considered interim reports and issued appropriate directives on the following cases:

Alleged non-payment of entitlements to beneficiaries of deceased military officers affected by the c-130 Air crash;

Alleged unlawful arrest, detention, torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of 486 persons by the 82 Division of Nigerian Army, Enugu;

Alleged extra- judicial killings of some members of the Islamic Shia Group in Zaria; and

Alleged Extra-judicial killings by soldiers in Moon district of Kwande LGA of Benue State.

Council considers practices such as racial, ethnic and sectarian profiling as a violation of the prohibition against discrimination in the Constitution and therefore strongly urges the security agencies to avoid such profiling of persons in the fight against insurgency in Nigeria.

Council mandates its Special Rapporteur on Law Enforcement, Violence and Public Safety and Security to liaise with the Secretariat in order to establish with the security agencies in Nigeria continuing dialogue on law enforcement, public safety and security

Council also considered and approved the payment by the company of compensation of five million Naira each to the families of the seven victims killed and two Million Naira each to seven persons injured in an encounter involving soldiers at Dangote Cement Plant in Tse-Kucha in Gboko Local Government area of Benue State.

Council therefore expressed the determination of the Commission to work towards addressing the culture of impunity in the country.

4. VIOLENCE & PREPARATIONS FOR THE 2015 GENERAL ELECTIONS

Council considered a report on the framework for the guarantee of the right to political participation and other associated rights in Nigeria including the right to vote and be voted for in a safe and secured environment.

Council notes that effective participation by every willing, eligible voter and candidate in electoral contests is a human right guaranteed by the Constitution and international human rights treaties to which Nigeria is a party and that free exercise of this right enhances the sense of citizenship and social inclusion and confers credibility and legitimacy on the electoral process and on governance.

Council emphasises that the Electoral Act, 2011 prohibits violence and conduct likely to incite violence in the electoral process including particularly, hate speech which Council considers to be a serious human rights violation.

Council calls on law enforcement, security agencies political parties and their leaders as well as organized civil society to take urgent and effective measures to denounce and preclude electoral violence

Council mandates effective monitoring by the Commission of all crimes associated with electoral violence and offers the collaboration of the Commission to all persons, institutions and agencies interested in addressing it.

Council calls for inter-agency cooperation of all relevant state institutions to ensure effective deployment of appropriate levels of state assets and resources to address factors that might impede the safe exercise of the right to political participation by all eligible citizens of Nigeria including those displaced in the North-East in the forthcoming 2015 General Elections.

Council will remain seized of this matter until after the 2015 general elections.

5. PENSION AND SOCIAL SECURITY PROTECTION
i. Council considers pension as a social security right and is concerned that institutional reforms have not adequately guaranteed the protection of the rights and well-being of the pensioners and their dependants.

ii. Council therefore recommends that concerted and urgent efforts should be deployed by government to address the challenges with a view to ensuring a more humane, efficient and rights based pension administration system in Nigeria.

6. ASSAULT ON EKITI STATE JUDICIARY
i. Council received and considered a complaint on the alleged assault on Ekiti State Judiciary, including a reported attack on a Judge of Ekiti State High Court.

ii. Council also noted that the National Judicial Council has received and referred a similar complaint to the Nigeria Police Force for investigation and necessary action.

iii. Criminal law in Nigeria clearly prohibits attacks on the persons of judicial officers. Council views any attack on the judiciary and Judicial officers as egregious, reprehensible and deserving of the most serious sanction possible under law. Council calls on all relevant State institutions to deny impunity to such agregiousness by taking appropriate steps to defend, protect and preserve the integrity of the judiciary and of the officers who preside in the courts.

7. APPRECIATION
Council conveys its appreciation to the good people of Imo State for warm hospitality extended to it for this convening.

DATED IN OWERRI THIS 11TH DAY OF OCTOBER, 2014
CHAIRMAN EXECUTIVE SECRETARY