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Nigeria’s Niger Delta “risky” for rights defenders
Tuesday, 11 May 2010 08:38
By Abdoulie JohnA new joint report by a group of international human rights organizations have described Nigeria’s troubled Niger Delta as “risky” for rights defenders.
The result of an international fact-finding mission, the report was jointly issued by organizations such as the International Federation of Human
Rights (FIDH), Frontline, World Organization against Torture (OMCT) and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Defenders (OBS). It said the restive, oil-rich region is perhaps the area of the country where situation for human rights defenders is most worrisome. “There have been continuous incidents of violations of the rights to health, clean environment, right to freedoms of expression and assembly, among others. It is reported that various communities in the Niger Delta face similar challenges. In particular, human rights defenders working on economic, social and environmental issues in the Niger Delta remain marginalized, and are more at risk of repressive actions,” the report reads.
Launched last Sunday, 9th May, on the margins of the ongoing Forum on the Participation of NGOs in the 47th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and Human Rights Book Fair in Banjul, the event brought together participants from a wide range of stakeholders including civil society, academia and media practitioners.
The report: “Nigeria: Defending Human Rights: Not Everywhere, Not Every Rights”, also observes the heavy presence of the military, which it says particularly, severely affects the works of the rights defenders.
“The military and the police are in many cases involved in human rights violations against the population, including extrajudicial killings. It is reported that the military and the police extort money at roadblocks and there have been cases where they have reacted to refusals to pay by killing. Many of these cases have then been “mounted up” as robbery,” the report reads.
It went on: “The work of defenders in monitoring and denouncing these violations makes them often a target of retaliation and violence. Due to the current conflict, increasing militarization and human rights violations taking place in the Niger Delta, it is almost impossible for defenders to report on the situation without being perceived as political activists. In addition, many human rights defenders face increased insecurity and were sometimes forced to flee the region.”
According to the report, defenders intervening in such cases have been arbitrary arrested and on several occasions have had their documents confiscated.
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