On the 29th day of
April 2019, CLEEN Foundation in partnership with the National Human Rights
Commission and supported by the Open society Foundation (OSF) organized a
one-day community accountability forum and policy brief validation.
The event brought
together security stakeholders such as the Nigerian military, civil defence,
police, paramilitary, media and civil society, to discuss ways of improving
human rights accountability in the state’s counter-insurgency strategies.
Resulting from
regional security challenges such as the Boko Haram insurgency in the
Northeast, armed bandits in the northwest, Herdsmen-Farmers clashes in
North-central, there have been reported cases of human rights violations
manifesting strongly in the state counter-insurgency strategies to combat these
insecurity challenges. Common trends indicate that suspects are routinely
picked by security personnel on different count charges, tortured and
humiliated. Those who are unlucky are kept in detention without trial for a
prolonged period while some are summarily executed.
In the course of
our meetings in Maiduguri with stakeholders, there were testimonies from
survivors and community residents recounting their experiences in the hands of
security agents. Many of them accused the security agents of violating their
rights as they strife to counter the insurgent operations.
It is within this
context that the CLEEN Foundation in collaboration with the National Human
Rights Commission organized policy brief validation workshop. The policy briefs
will be a guide for advocacy that will support security agents and the state to
adhere to human rights standards and rules of engagements in all
counterinsurgency operations.
The event provided
an opportunity for stakeholders to discuss and make inputs into the policy
briefs that were developed by researchers engaged by CLEEN to develop the
documents.
Some of the
counter-insurgency laws reviewed are:
- Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011
- Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013
- Criminal code Act
- The Money Laundering Acts of 2011 and 2012
- Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015
- Police Act
- Penal code Act
- Arms Forces Act
- The Prisons Act
- The Nigerian customs Act
- The Nigeria Immigration Act
- National Counter Terrorism Strategy NACTEST