Human Rights Abuses--Kanu Confirms Submission Of Materials To The United Nations

Human Rights Abuses: Kanu Confirms Submission Of Materials To The United Nations Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indi...

Human Rights Abuses: Kanu Confirms Submission Of Materials To The United Nations

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) globally, today announced the submission of materials to Agnes Callamard, the United Nations Rapporteur for Extra-judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, chronicling gross human rights violations perpetrated against Biafrans in Nigeria. The IPOB leader stated that his aim of submitting the documents was to ensure that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are prosecuted and that religious minorities across Nigeria are duly protected by the international community. Some of his statements reads in parts:

"Today, the Biafran people submitted materials chronicling #humanrights abuses perpetrated against #Biafrans in #Nigeria to @AgnesCallamard, Special Rapporteur at the @UN. The full report can be viewed here:" United Nations Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Human Rights Council
or copy and paste the file: file:///C:/Users/EMSI/Downloads/UN_Submission_Cover_Letter_3-19.pdf.pdf

He continued "Our goal is to ensure that the human rights violations occurring across #Nigeria will be acknowledged and confronted, perpetrators will be prosecuted, and religious minorities across Nigeria will be protected by the international community.

The materials submitted today to @AgnesCallamard @UN were signed by me, as the leader of #IPOB, as well as IPOB U.S. National Coordinator Dr. Clement Okoro, and 22 state coordinators from across the U.S.

The submission to the @UN documents 12 incidents in which #Biafrans were subject to severe human rights abuses, ranging from indiscriminate arrests to mass executions, carried out by #Nigerian military, police & security forces.

Most notable amongst these atrocities is the killing by #Nigerian military forces 150 #Biafrans in May '16. These innocent civilians were celebrating Biafran Remembrance Day & commemorating the approximately 2M Biafrans that lost their lives during the Nigerian Civil War.

The number of human rights abuses being committed against minorities and those with dissenting views in #Nigeria, including members of the #IPOB, over the past five years have increased dramatically both in scale and heinousness

The materials call to @AgnesCallamard & @UN's attention to the massacre of Christians by #Fulani extremists – a group that the 2019 Global Terrorism Index estimates is deadlier than #BokoHaram. This was highlighted in a recent op-ed by @BHL in @WSJ:" he stated, parts of the document which was signed by over 20 states coordinators in united stated reads below

March 19, 2020

Agnes Callamard

United Nations Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Human Rights Council

Dear Special Rapporteur Callamard:

I. INTRODUCTION

Thank you for the opportunity to submit additional factual materials for your consideration for inclusion in the official final report of your mission to Nigeria from August 19 to September 3, 2019 in your capacity as UN Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions. As you mention in your September 2 End of Visit Statement, the situation in Nigeria is volatile and violent, and “is a tragedy for the people of Nigeria.”

As concerned citizens and members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), we write to thank you for your attention to this crisis, provide supporting evidence to the observations you include in your preliminary report, and encourage you to continue to highlight the bloodshed and injustices taking place in Nigeria so that the international community will finally understand the urgency and importance of joining together to hold the Nigerian national government accountable and end these atrocities.

II. VIOLATIONS OF THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS & THE INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS

As you have seen for yourself, the number of human rights abuses being committed against minorities and those with dissenting views in Nigeria, including members of the IPOB, over the past five years have increased dramatically both in scale and heinousness. These crimes, committed by state and non-state actors alike, are at best ignored by the Buhari regime and at worst sanctioned by the administration. Instances of mass murders and other horrific acts of violence are rarely investigated and perpetrators are not prosecuted. Even where violence has been demonstrated to have been led by state security actors, no mechanism exists to hold those responsible accountable.

Most concerning to us in particular as Biafrans is the massacre of Christians by Fulani extremists – a group that the 2019 Global Terrorism Index estimates is deadlier than Boko Haram, that has gone largely unacknowledged by the West. While atrocities are being committed regularly based on long simmering ethnic tensions and disputes over resources, the international community must not ignore this aspect of the conflict, which some have suggested is reminiscent of Rwanda in the 1990s, and Darfur and South Sudan in the 2000s.

As some findings in your September 2 End of Visit Statement suggest, members of IPOB living in Nigeria continue to face violence and persecution each day. As such, included in this submission please find a video compilation containing recorded footage as well as a written explanation that details some of the most heinous and serious incidents affecting IPOB members in recent years. 1 All of these instances constitute gross violations of the rights and freedoms set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 6, 14 and 15 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including but not limited to the inherent right to life, liberty and security of person regardless of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, and the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs; 2 the right to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law;3 and the right to equal protection of the law.4

1. On February 9, 2016, the Nigerian military surrounded a peaceful gathering of IPOB members and supporters at Aba National High School and fired live ammunition at them without any prior warning. According to eyewitnesses and local human rights activists, 9 people well killed and many of the protesters at Aba were rounded up and taken away by the military. Four days later 13 corpses, including those of men known to have been taken by the military, were discovered in a pit near the Aba highway.

2. On May 30, 2016 in Onitsha, Anambra State, dozens of Biafrans were killed by Nigerian security forces while peacefully celebrating Biafra Remembrance Day. Estimates range from at least 60 fatalities but have been cited as high as 150 in what Amnesty International labeled a “chilling crackdown.” Evidence gathered from eyewitnesses, morgues and hospitals confirmed that between May 29-30, 2016, the Nigerian military opened fire on members of the IPOB, supporters, and bystanders at three locations in the town.

Mass extrajudicial executions by security forces are not isolated to this incident. An Amnesty International investigation concluded that video, photos and eyewitness accounts consistently showed that the military fired live ammunition at IPOB gatherings between 2015 and 2016 with little or no warning to disperse crowds.

3. On January 20, 2017, 65 IPOB members were arrested and one killed at a pro-Biafra rally to commemorate the inauguration of President Donald Trump in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Tear gas was used to disperse the crowds of peaceful participants.

4. At least four Biafrans were killed when Nigerian forces opened fire on pro-Biafra supporters congregating at IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu’s residence in Umuahia, Abia State on September 14, 2017.

5. On May 30, 2018, members of the IPOB were asked to observe a sit-at-home order in recognition of the anniversary of the declaration of independence by Biafra in 1967 and a day dedicated to Biafran heroes. The sit-at-home was successful in many parts of the South East, but Nigerian soldiers shot and killed Kelvin Nnamdi Ikemeh while observing the sit-at-home. His body was taken away by soldiers. Another member of IPOB was allegedly shot and killed by security forces while attempting to set up a barricade in Nnewi, Anambra State.

6. In August 2018, the IPOB called for an international inquiry to investigate the execution of 38 pro-Biafra activists by the Federal Government after the discovery of 38 bodies of slain Biafrans at Obiawom village, Ogwe Autonomous Community, in Asa, Ukwa West Local Government Area of Abia State. The killings are believed to be the outcome of Operation Python Dance, which was carried out by the Nigerian Army in the South East zone.

7. On August 17, 2018, 112 women were arrested and prosecuted in Owerri, Imo State, for protesting the disappearance of IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu. They were discharged and released by a court six days later.

8. On May 22, 2019, 140 IPOB members were arrested during a peaceful burial procession and charged with treason. The Enugu state police command confirmed the arrests within the Nsukka area of the state, stating the individuals were arrested for allegedly “organizing unlawful procession and display of proscribed items on the streets.”

9. On October 15, 2019, a petroleum tanker exploded in a central commerce area in Onitsha, Anambra State, killing at least two people and destroying many businesses. Government-run fire services refused to respond to the incident.

10. At least two IPOB members were killed when the home of IPOB lead counsel, Barrister Ejiofor, was attacked in Anambra State on December 4, 2019.

11. On December 8, 2019, IPOB member Chibuike Ojoko was killed and decapitated by Fulani herdsmen after they invaded the Ndunwafu Village by surprise.

12. On December 12, 2019, Nigerian forces killed an IPOB member in Abuja at a police checkpoint.

13. In addition to the atrocities perpetrated against members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, instability in the country has resulted in the death of at least 589 Nigerians this year. An appendix is attached at the end of this letter, which documents the location, date, and number of people killed in Nigeria thus far in 2020.

These instances represent only a small fraction of the arbitrary arrests, torture and extrajudicial executions perpetrated against Biafrans over the past several years. The actual number of deaths is alarmingly high and information regarding these and other cases is being suppressed by the Nigerian government.

III. CONCLUSION

At the height of the war in 1969, 12,000 people a day starved to death in Biafra at the hands of the Nigerian government. More than 50 years later, the violent persecution of Biafrans and other minority groups by the Nigerian state continues unabated. The UN has identified the IPOB as one group that is specifically targeted, repressed and arbitrarily killed by state actors, and the respective conflictsin the Middle Belt and Southern States – where IPOB members reside – constitute a major security challenge. In 2018, this conflict was six times deadlier than the Boko Haram insurgency and has displaced over 300,000 people. We fear without intervention, history may repeat itself.

The Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, adopted by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 1989/65 of 24 May 1989, establishes the obligation of Governments “to guarantee effective protection through judicial or other means to individuals and groups who are in danger of extra-legal, arbitrary or summary executions,” and requires that they “make every effort to prevent extra-legal, arbitrary and summary executions,” 5 and implement “thorough, prompt and impartial investigation of all suspected cases of extra-legal, arbitrary and summary executions, including cases where complaints by relatives or other reliable reports suggest unnatural death in the above circumstances.” Nigeria has failed to meet its obligations.

Once again, we thank you for your attention to this humanitarian crisis. We are hopeful that the additional factual information, videos and eyewitness accounts provided in this submission will help tell the full story of what is taking place on the ground, and look forward to the publication and presentation of your final report. The time has come for the Nigerian government to face

pressure by the international community to adhere it its human rights obligations and constitutional commitments to its citizens.

Respectfully,

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu

Leader Indigenous People of Biafra

Dr. Clement Okoro

United States National Coordinator