British Prime Minister, David Cameron, must urge Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari, to “stop side-stepping justice and start independent investigations” into war crimes and possible crimes against humanity by the Nigerian military, Amnesty International said on Wednesday ahead of a planned visit by Buhari to the United Kingdom where he will be attending the Supporting Syria Conference in London on Thursday.
Amnesty also reiterated its call upon the UK Government to ensure any military assistance provided to Nigeria is in keeping with human rights standards, and not provided to units accused of crimes under international law and other serious violations of human rights.
“Charges of the worst possible crimes have been levelled at the Nigerian military. Just days after taking office President Buhari himself stated that he would leave ‘no stone unturned to promote the rule of law’ and that he would look into our findings,” said Amnesty International UK Director Kate Allen.
“It is bitterly disappointing then, that nearly one year on from taking office, Buhari has done nothing to independently investigate these egregious crimes.
“David Cameron must raise these issues with President Buhari when they meet this week. This is no time for a diplomatic tap-dance around matters of mass unlawful killings, arbitrary arrest and deaths in detention. Cameron must use this opportunity to help bring justice to the families of the victims of these horrendous abuses.”
Amnesty had documented crimes under international law and other serious human rights violations committed by the Nigerian military in its fight against the armed group, Boko Haram.
Amnesty has said that since 2012, Nigeria’s soldiers have extrajudicially executed more than 1,200 men and boys and since 2011, more than 7,000 men and boys have died in military detention as a result of starvation, torture, extreme overcrowding and denial of medical assistance while more than 20,000 people have been arrested in the course of security operations in north-east Nigeria since 2009.
Amnesty has also named nine top-ranking officials who should be investigated for potential individual or command responsibility for the war crimes. In a concerning move, Major General Ahmadu Mohammed, one of senior commanders named in Amnesty’s 2015 report, was last month reinstated to office by the Buhari administration.
Major General Mohammed was in command of operations when soldiers killed more than 640 unarmed recaptured detainees following a Boko Haram attack on the detention centre in Giwa barracks on 14 March 2014 Video footage and witness testimony reveal soldiers shot or cut the throats of the detainees and then threw them into mass graves.
The UK Government currently provides military assistance to Nigeria in its fight against Boko Haram. More than 150 British troops have been deployed to carry out training.
Kate Allen said “The UK must ensure that any assistance it provides to Nigeria is compliant with human rights law. No British troops should provide military assistance to Nigerian troops accused of committing human rights violations. All training of units accused of such violations should be reviewed and all Nigerian military personnel recommended for training should be vetted further.
“The UK must also ensure that a rigorous risk assessment is carried out before weapons, ammunition, or other military technology are sent to Nigeria.”