By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, Intersociety has disclosed how strongly suspected Nigerian State infiltration and ethnic, religious biases of Nigerian-born Researchers of Amnesty International and Human Rights deprived Nigeria’s hotbed of grosshuman rights abuses: South-East, South-South and Middle-Belt Regions, of AI and HRW’s advocacy activities and benefits since 2015.

It said that this was disclosed in two Advocacy-Letters delivered to Dr Agnes Callamard, Secretary-General of Amnesty International, UK and Ms Tirana Hassan, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, USA.

Intersociety in a statement titled, “Advocacy Letters To AI (UK) And HRW (USA)” signed by Emeka Umeagbalasi (Criminologist-reseacher and Board Chairman of the group), Obianuju Joy Igboeli, Esq, Head of Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, said the letters dated Wednesday, July 5, 2023, have successfully been delivered.

It made far-reaching demands and proposals as a way forward and specifically requested for leadership overhaul at Nigeria’s section of Amnesty International (AI-N) and recruitment of a new Researcher for HRW on Nigeria, saying that such person must be non-Nigerian and unbiased in order to purge the HRW advocacy activities in the country of entrenched ethnic and religious biases and hatred and ensure non-discrimination and professionalism in the distribution of its advocacy activities in Nigeria or any part thereof.

The group also urged AI and HRW to push for UN/AU Special Criminal Tribunal for Nigeria over 90,000 politico-religious deaths since 2009.

Intersociety had also in its Advocacy-Letter to Amnesty International, Dr Agnes Callamard, a respected former UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial and Summary Executions or Killings, demanded for the suspension and closure of Nigerian Section of Amnesty International pending when it was sanitized and reorganized.

The statement reads in part: “It was recommended that the West/East African Regional Office of Amnesty International located in Dakar, Senegal should take over the affairs of the Nigerian Section with a non-Nigerian Rights campaigner recruited as ‘New Researcher on Nigeria.’

“This is to ensure non-discrimination and professionalism. Leaders of Intersociety, including its Board Chair, Emeka Umeagbalasi, as international members of Amnesty International, have severally expressed deep concerns over the goings-on in the Nigerian Section especially since 2017.

“Apart from strongly suspected Nigerian State infiltration and interference, there are also strong allegations against the Nigerian-born handlers of the Nigerian Section bordering on partisanship, ethnic and religious biases and discrimination in matters of advocacy areas which have brutally excluded and shut out South-East, South-South and Middle-Belt, Nigeria’s hotbed of state actors and non state actors gross human rights abuses or violations from Amnesty International’s advocacy areas, activities and victims and active states’ advocacy benefits since 2016.

“It must be remembered that 24th Nov 2016 was the last time the Old Eastern Nigeria, particularly the South-East, was majorly represented in the AI’s scheme of advocacy works. This followed the release of AI’s globally celebrated Special Report: ‘At Least 150 Unarmed Pro-Biafra Protesters Killed By Security Forces In South-East Nigeria.’

“Strong accusations are pointing in the direction of the top leadership of the Nigerian Section of the Organization to the effect that ‘a number of its present leaders are card-carrying members of the central ruling Party and political appointees of some sitting Governors in Northern Nigeria.’ This, we seriously frown at and consider as a height of partisanship.”

"The exhibition of ethnic and religious biases and hatred in Nigeria’s Amnesty International as well as the suspected state infiltration and interference and discriminatory or selective advocacy activities have become deeply entrenched that Nigeria’s AI career staffers and other stakeholders from Old Eastern Nigeria and the Old Middle-Belt including Southern Kaduna who protested or tried to effect such anti East and Middle-Belt advocacy embargo were threatened, sabotaged, framed and forced out in Nigeria.

“We had also in our Advocacy-Letter reminded Dr Agnes Callamard, AI’s Sec-Gen that the Nigerian Section of the Organization was once suspended and closed down by its International Secretariat around late 90s or early 2000s for compromising the core Mandate of the global Organization including being mired in political partisanship, politicization and compromises.”

The rights group said it had drawn the attention of Human Rights Watch Executive Director, Ms Tirana Hassan, to drastic declines in the advocacy activities and denial of the HRW advocacy benefits to victims and potential victims of gross human rights abuses and violations, including state-actor and non-state actor terrorism in Old Eastern and Middle-Belt Regions, particularly since 2015; which have been checked and traced to the appointment in 2013 of Ms Mausi Segun as ‘Researcher on Nigeria’ and later in 2017 as ‘HRW’s Director for African Division.’

It noted further: “It was also under her watch that another Nigerian, Ms Anietie Ewang, was appointed to replace her as ‘Researcher on Nigeria.’ Ms Mausi Segun was picked from the integrity-challenged Nigerian Government- owned National Human Rights Commission where she was a career staff. A cursory look at the advocacy activities of the HRW in Nigeria since 2013-2015 clearly showed that ethnic and religious biases have been responsible for near-total absence of the advocacy works and benefits of the HRW in Old Eastern and Middle-Belt Regions of Nigeria, comprising South-East, South-South and North-Central, including Southern Kaduna.

“This is more so when it is age-long knowledge that citizens of Nigeria are deeply divided along ethnic, religious and hate lines. The last major report of HRW in Eastern Nigeria was its 10th August 2010 Report: ‘Everyone’s on the Game: Corruption and Human Rights Abuses by Nigeria Police Force,’ co-presented in Lagos by Intersociety and Access to Justice.

“Intersociety also, in its two Advocacy-Letters, urged Amnesty International, UK and Human Rights Watch, USA, to internationally campaign for conduct-atrocity justice accountability and end of impunity in Nigeria or any part thereof and use their global contacts, connections and influences to push for UN/AU Criminal Enquiries and Special Criminal Tribunal for Nigeria to look into more than 90,000 politico-religious deaths since 2009 or in a period of past fourteen years; including over 53,000 Christian death tolls and over 35,000 moderate Muslim death figures.

“This is in order to track the horrendous crimes of international concerns perpetrated and their perpetrators and victims in Nigeria or any part thereof.”

Intersociety cited recent international cases in point to include the creation of the AU Special Criminal Court in Senegal that tried and sentenced to life imprisonment of former Chadian President, Hissene Habre, in May 2016 during which AI and HRW played leading roles.

According to the group, the convicted and life-jailed former Chadian President later died in custody in Senegal on 24th August 2021, five years after he was convicted for crimes against humanity and war crimes for killing over 4000 civilians and general death of over 40,000 others during his atrocious rule of 1982-1990.

It observed that in Lebanon, the UN Special Criminal Enquiry was set up on April 7, 2005 to look into the assassination of Prime Minister Hafiq Hariri, killed in a bomb explosion on Feb 14, 2005, saying that there was also the UN Special Criminal Enquiry on Pakistan set up in 2009 to look into the assassination of Prime Minister, Ms Benazir Bhutto in a bomb blast that took place on 27th Dec, 2007.

"Therefore, such UN/AU Special Criminal Enquiries/Criminal Tribunal are urgently needed in Nigeria to look into the country’s grisly and egregious rights abuses or violations since July 2009, track down and hold their perpetrators accountable," Intersociety said.

While urging Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to fully return their advocacy activities and benefits to Nigeria without discrimination as to ethnicity, religion, gender, class, age, occupation, identity and geographical locations of the victims and potential victims and their properties; Intersociety also called on them to end their age-long advocacy discriminatory practices against Nigeria’s Old Eastern and Middle-Belt Regions – Nigeria’s hotbed of gross rights abuses or violations.

It added that, “Their respective attentions were also drawn to the genocidal situation of Christians in Nigeria and defenseless civilians in Imo State and their properties.

“This is to the extent that “2,500 defenseless Christians were hacked to death in January to June 2023 - with 31,700 of them killed from June 2015 to June 2023; 53,750 slaughtered since Boko Haram uprising in July 2009-during which at least 18,200 churches, 1000 traditional religious sanctuaries, 800 Synagogues, and 2,200 Christian schools were burned down or wantonly destroyed; 1100 Christian communities uprooted, 50 million Christians forced out of their ancestral homes, hundreds of thousands of Christians forcefully converted to Islam and tens of thousands of Christian women raped or sexually abused or enslaved.”

“Also 15 million Christian IDPs/Refugees have been generated; out of which, Benue State accounted for over 2.5 million Christian IDPs alone.”

“The globally respected leaders of AI and HRW were further informed that “in the past 30 months or January 2021 to 30th June, 2023, under Hope Uzodinma as Governor of Imo State in Nigeria, 1000 civilians were killed by the Nigerian security forces, 3,700 arbitrarily arrested and 320 disappeared without traces-with not less than 1,400 civilian houses burnt and their 72,000 occupants forced into homelessness and 600,000 active age-bracket civilians forced to flee.”