Anger In Military Over Amnesty Report

LAST Wednesday’s release of a damning report by Amnesty International alleging “horrific war crimes” by the Nigerian armed forces has sent shock waves within the military hierarchy.

This is because any of the military officials indicted may end up at the International Criminal Court at The Hague, The Netherlands.

The military was getting used to the periodic allegations of human rights abuses by Amnesty International, but to now face allegations of war crimes, including murder of 8,000 people, starving, suffocating and torturing others to death set off alarm bells .

There has been anxiety in many quarters as to how the report would be handled by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Amnesty International’s report
Indeed, the accusations are grievous.

Amnesty said in its 133-page report titled: Stars on their shoulders. Blood on their hands- War crimes committed by the Nigerian military – that since March 2011, more than 7,000 young men and boys died in military detention and more than 1,200 people were unlawfully killed since February 2012.

It said it can vouch for the authenticity of the report based on years of research and analyses of evidence including leaked military reports and correspondence, interviews with more than 400 victims, eyewitnesses and senior members of the Nigerian security forces.


Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Mr. Salil Shetty, in the report outlined the roles and possible criminal responsibilities of those along the chain of command – up to the Chief of Defence Staff and Chief of Army Staff, submitting that “this sickening evidence exposes how thousands of young men and boys have been arbitrarily arrested and deliberately killed or left to die in detention in the most horrific conditions.

It is also about the responsibility of Nigeria’s leadership to act decisively to end the pervasive culture of impunity within the armed forces.”

Shetty then listed the war crimes to include alleged mass deaths in custody, starvation, dehydration and disease, overcrowding and suffocation, fumigation, torture, and extrajudicial executions. Amnesty also claimed that high level military commanders knew of the crimes.

The body then charged: “Despite being informed of the death rates and conditions of detention, Nigerian military officials consistently failed to take meaningful action.

Those in charge of detention facilities, as well as their commanders at Army and Defence headquarters, must be investigated.

For years the Nigerian authorities have downplayed accusations of human rights abuses by the military. But they cannot dismiss their own internal military documents.

They cannot ignore testimonies from witnesses and high-ranking military whistle blowers. And they cannot deny the existence of emaciated and mutilated bodies piled on mortuary slabs and dumped in mass graves.

“We call on newly-elected President Buhari to end the culture of impunity that has blighted Nigeria and for the African Union and international community to encourage and support these efforts. As a matter of urgency, the President must launch an immediate and impartial investigation into the crimes detailed in Amnesty International’s report and hold all those responsible to account, no matter their rank or position. Only then can there be justice for the dead and their relatives.”

In September last year, Amnesty released similar report, indicting the military and police for brutal torture and extra judicial killing of Nigerians including children held in their custody. It also said between 5,000 and 10,000 Nigerians have been detained since 2009.

To add to the Amnesty pressure, the United States accused Nigeria of extensive human rights abuses in its fight against Boko Haram and says its laws forbid arms transaction with any country so accused.

Amnesty International’s report is certain to complicate efforts at resolving the issues to allow Nigeria obtain military support and equipment. The 62-page report, presented by Nicola Duckworth last September was titled: “Welcome to Hell Fire’ Torture and Other Ill-Treatment in Nigeria.”

There were vehement denials by the military and Police who were joined by some Nigerians and groups in accusing Amnesty of seeing only the alleged atrocities of the Nigerian military and other security agencies.

Amnesty then released another report in February 2015 stating that it has evidence and reasonable belief that Islamist militant group Boko Haram and the Nigerian military have committed crimes under international law in the context of the conflict in North-East Nigeria.

Amnesty in a written statement to the 28th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council said the Nigerian security forces in its response to Boko Haram had committed serious human right violations, claiming it had evidence to suggest Nigeria’s military had also committed war crimes.

It then added its concern on the “deaths of more than one thousand suspects in military detention facilities as a result of extrajudicial executions, torture, starvation, disease, suffocation or other reasons associated with extremely poor conditions.”

Cashing in on the latest report by Amnesty, Joel Gillin, writing in the U.S. liberal magazine, The New Republic, stated that with the new war crimes allegations, the United States should think twice about deeper military ties with Nigeria.

Gillin slammed his country for planning to send a team to Nigeria to work more closely and coordinate in the Nigeria’s battle against Boko Haram, which is a sign of good faith in warming relationship with Nigeria’s new President.

According to him: “The timing is unfortunate. Although it’s wrong-headed, perhaps the deeper co-mingling of the U.S. and Nigeria makes a certain morbid sense. In the name of fighting terrorism, both countries severely overreacted, committing serious war crimes that are likely to go unpunished. While some of us may hope to see Nigerian officials tried in the International Criminal Court, as Amnesty International has called for, we have also grown used to impunity in the War on Terror excesses, as even U.S. officials who admit to their crimes remain free.”

But generally, Amnesty’s latest assessment of the military did not go down well with Nigerians.