Although human rights violations in Nigeria have been commonplace under military rule, 1993 was a particularly challenging year for Nigerian human rights groups. Former President General Ibrahim Babangida annulled the results of a presidential election, which would have brought the country back to civilian rule, and installed an interim government. In mid-November, Defense Minister General Sani Abacha forced the interim government to resign, effectively staging the seventh coup d'etat since Nigeria's independence. The regime banned all political meetings and associations. No timetable was set for the return to civilian rule.
Throughout this crisis, the human rights community has banded together under a coalition called the Campaign for Democracy (CD). Riots erupted in Lagos in early July 1993 and the regime detained hundreds of protesters for a month. CD called for additional strikes and demonstrations. Human rights abuses during this time were widespread, including ethnically-based attacks, killing of demonstrators, detentions of activists and journalists, and interference with freedom of expression and association. The Nigerian press, known for being outspoken, came under even more fire from government authorities during the political crisis. The government closed down several magazine houses.
Abuses by members of the police and security forces remain a persistent human rights problem. There are frequent cases of harassment and extra-judicial killings by law enforcement officers. Abysmal prison conditions have also been highlighted by the human rights community.
Abuses are also taking place against the Ogoni people, a minority group inhabiting the oil-producing region of Rivers State. They have protested the destruction of their land and culture by multinational oil companies and Nigerian military forces. As a result, hundreds of Ogonis have been killed in attacks believed to be sanctioned by government authorities.
Nigeria has a diverse and large human rights community which has made its presence felt throughout the nation, particularly with the creation of the CD. Many human rights activists and organizations in Nigeria had faced ongoing harassment during the previous Babangida regime. These attacks escalated after Babangida's decision in November 1992 to postpone the transition to civilian rule. The government arrested and harassed a number of human rights activists. The offices of some of the more outspoken human rights organizations have been subjected to forcible police entry and the seizure of materials. The political crisis resulted in a number of human rights organizations' having to divert staff and resources towards the creation of the coalition Campaign for Democracy (CD); as a result, other projects were postponed. In the case of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, the organization's staff, offices and resources were completely engulfed by CD.
The human rights organizations have adopted various approaches to their work, and the government has been less likely to interfere with those that are not publicly critical of the government or whose mandate is purely human rights education work.
There are a number of advocacy and awareness groups, such as the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), the Constitutional Rights Project (CRP), the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), and the Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (Port Harcourt), which mount campaigns and conduct fact-finding and documentation work. Other organizations produce materials and hold conferences and seminars to raise awareness. These include the National Institute for Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS), Human Rights Africa and the Legal Research and Resource Development Center. In addition, there are organizations bringing together groups with common interests, such as Women in Nigeria, the Ogoni People's Organization, and the National Association of Democratic Lawyers, which address human rights issues.
There have been some attempts to create regional organizations, in particular Human Rights Africa and the Ethnic Minority Rights Organization of Africa (evolving from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, MOSOP). Neither organization has succeeded in making a mark continent-wide, but both are recognized as domestic human rights groups within Nigeria. The CLO, while not a regional organization, has attempted to address the need for more regional contact by creating a division within the organization, called the African Monitoring Group, to increase contact and awareness of human rights developments continent-wide.
There is a high level of knowledge of human rights standards amongst many of the human rights organizations. Accordingly, the human rights reports that are produced are often of high quality and incorporate references to international and national human rights standards. The reports produced by the CLO and the CRP can be used as a model for other organizations in the region in fact-finding, documentation of abuses, use of domestic and international human rights standards, and even typesetting and binding.
A number of Nigerian groups have managed to create strong institutional structures, with narrowly-defined mandates and internal staff structures as well as program plans. While there are still growing pains within many of these groups, this type of planning process has resulted in the Nigerian human rights community's being far ahead of its anglophone neighbors in putting human rights institutions into place.
HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS
(CASS)
History
The Centre for Advanced Social Sciences (CASS) was formed in 1992 and is based in Port Harcourt. Two other branches are planned, one for East and Southern Africa, the other for francophone West and Central Africa.
Mandate
CASS is a think tank concerned with improving management and public policy in Africa.
Structure
The Centre has a Board of Trustees and is governed by an international Board of Directors.
Program
CASS's research areas are public policy, governance and democratization, and the international system. The Centre runs seminars and training sessions.
(CLO)
History
Established in 1987, the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) is one of Nigeria's largest human rights organizations.
Mandate
The CLO is a non-governmental organization set up for the defence and expansion of human rights and civil liberties.
Structure
The CLO is a membership organization with sixteen state branches outside Lagos. It has a staff of 23 and is headed by a National Advisory Council and a Board of Governors. The organization is divided into the following project areas: litigation; police and prison; women's rights; national expansion (membership); annual report; campaign and empowerment (lectures, CD involvement, Liberty magazine); environmental action (in oil-producing areas); documentation and research; resource center; African monitoring group; ethics in government.
Program
The CLO investigates human rights abuses and campaigns through litigation, publications and communications with the government on behalf of people whose rights have been abused. The CLO publishes a quarterly magazine, entitled Liberty, and a Journal of Human Rights Law and Practice. Its prison project has produced two major reports on prison conditions and a number of smaller publications. It has also published a number of reports on police brutality, military decrees, government impunity, the death penalty and annual reports on the human rights situation in Nigeria. Its legal aid project has represented over 4,000 indigent victims of human rights abuses. The organization also undertakes human rights education through its empowerment project, conducting clinics and seminars on rights issues. The organization is extremely active in lobbying the government through dialogue and public censure and launching campaigns to end specific government abuses.
Committee for the Defence of Human Rights
(CDHR)
History
The Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) formed in 1989 in response to the detention of trade unionist Femi Aborishade. The organization then evolved into a human rights organization.
Mandate
CDHR's objectives are to:
- promote, defend and sustain fundamental human rights;
- establish a system of prompt and efficient assistance for needy persons whose human rights are violated; and
- collaborate with other organizations committed to participatory democracy and social justice.
Structure
The organization has over 2,000 members and 19 state branches. The national branch is headed by a National Executive Committee and each state branch has its own Executive Committee. There are three full-time staff members.
Program
The organization brings legal suits on behalf of people whose rights have been violated. It has also launched campaigns against detention without trial, extra-judicial killings and structural adjustment programs. CDHR also produces a quarterly newsletter and an annual report on human rights violations in Nigeria.
Constitutional Rights Project
(CRP)
History
The Constitutional Rights Project (CRP) was set up in 1990.
Mandate
The organization's aims are to ensure that Nigerian legislation conforms with international standards; to monitor institutions whose activities impact on the rights of citizens; and to provide legal assistance to victims of human rights abuses.
Structure
CRP is headed by a Board of Directors with a management committee. The research staff carries out research projects and the litigation staff is responsible for the legal cases.
Program
Among other activities, the Project has litigated numerous cases, conducted campaigns, held seminars and addressed the issues of application of bail and freedom of expression, the administration of justice, and police practices. It publishes a journal and a newsletter in addition to a number of full-length human rights reports.
Ethnic Minority Rights Organization of Africa
(EMIROAF)/
Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People
(MOSOP)
History
MOSOP was set up in 1990 to protest human rights violations taking place against the Ogoni people, a minority group inhabiting the oil-producing region of Rivers State. EMIROAF was formed out of MOSOP. To date, EMIROAF is more of a Nigerian NGO than a regional one.
Mandate
EMIROAF is an organization dedicated to research in the areas of human rights and environmental protection among ethnic, minority, tribal and indigenous peoples in Africa. EMIROAF's objective is to protest against the destruction of Ogoni land and culture by multinational oil companies and Nigerian military forces.
Structure
EMIROAF is a membership organization with 35 full-time staff members.
Program
The organization publishes a monthly newsletter and organizes public awareness campaigns on the plight of the Ogoni people.
Human Rights Africa
History
Human Rights Africa is an international organization set up in 1988 to address human rights issues from an African perspective.
Mandate
The organization divides its work into three divisions: education, political and civil rights, and economic, social and cultural rights.
Structure
Human Rights Africa has six senior staff members and a membership of over 800. It has three Boards, including a Founders Council, an African Board of Advisors, and an International Advisory Committee.
Program
Most of Human Rights Africa's activities have been based in Nigeria. Its regional work has included a fact-finding mission and human rights report on the situation in Ethiopia, training workshops for West African leaders and local government officials, and assistance in setting up the Ghanaian-based African Commission of Health and Human Rights Promoters. The organization gives an annual Africa Service Award.
Human Rights Monitor
History
Human Rights Monitor is an organization in Kaduna which was started in January 1993 by about 15 people in response to the need for a human rights body in the North which was not headquartered in Lagos.
Mandate
The purpose of the organization is to address human rights issues in the north of Nigeria.
Structure
Human Rights Monitor has three full-time staff members, and is a membership organization with approximately 50 members.
Program
The organization has taken cases to court with the CLO and issued joint releases with the CLO on human rights issues in the north. The organization is completely self-funded and accordingly its activities have been hampered.
Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
(IHRHL)
History
The Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (IHRHL) was set up in Port Harcourt in 1993 by a former CLO employee.
Mandate
IHRHL's focuses on human rights education and advocacy on issues specific to the Port Harcourt area of Nigeria.
Structure
IHRHL is a membership organization with three full-time staff.
Program
The organization has been hampered by lack of funding, but has been able to publish numerous articles on human rights issues in the local press, conduct human rights education in the schools and do some legal aid work. It is interested in creating a paralegal program.
Legal Research and Resource Development Centre
(LRRDC)
History
The Legal Research and Resource Development Centre (LRRDC) was set up in 1990.
Mandate
LRRDC mandate is to act as a catalyst in the promotion of human rights education through research, teaching, exchange of ideas and development of human resources in Nigeria.
Structure
The Centre is governed by a Board of Trustees assisted by an academic Advisory Board and an Administrative Board. There are ten full-time staff.
Program
The Centre's research falls into four major categories: law as a tool for development; women's needs in the developing world; human rights education; and access to legal services. The Centre publishes legal awareness materials on domestic laws aimed at the rural community, government officials and school children. It also visits prisons and refers cases to other advocacy organizations when necessary. There is a small documentation center in the office. The Centre is also trying to create a paralegal program.
National Association of Democratic Lawyers
(NADL)
History
The National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADL) was created in 1983 in response to the newly-established Buhari military government and the perceived inaction of the Nigerian Bar Association. It was set up as an affiliate of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers based in Brussels.
Mandate
NADL's goal is to provide legal services and conduct campaigns against human rights violations.
Structure
NADL is a membership organization of approximately 6,000 lawyers, with 15 branches. All office holders are volunteers.
Program
NADL files suits on behalf of disadvantaged groups; challenges military decrees through the courts and through campaigns; and defends the fundamental rights provisions of the Constitution and campaigns for democratic rule in Nigeria. The organization provides legal aid and brings public interest litigation. It has also conducted campaigns against the death penalty, illegal detention and banning of organizations. It publishes a newsletter.
National Institute for Advanced Legal Studies
(NIALS)
History
NIALS is a government parastatal formed in 1979 as an institute for the University of Lagos. In 1984 it became autonomous, but under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice. It receives funding from the Ministry, but functions independently.
Mandate
The Institute's mandate is legal research and continuing legal education for practitioners.
Structure
There are six staff members.
Program
NIALS sponsors continuing legal education classes for legal practitioners, judges and magistrates as well as training workshops for prison officials and police. It organizes seminars and conferences, and conducts in-depth studies in certain areas such as human rights and the administration of justice, and the rights of the child.
Women in Nigeria
(WIN)
History
Women in Nigeria is a national organization set up in 1983.
Mandate
WIN's purpose is to organize and improve the condition of Nigerian women in all areas.
Structure
WIN is an organization of 8,535 members with offices in 22 states. Each office determines its agenda and priorities in consultation with the national office. The National Executive has seven National Officers.
Program
WIN organizes annual conferences on women's issues, produces publications and sponsors campaigns on issues affecting women. It provides legal aid to indigent women. WIN has been active in opposing structural adjustment programs and has also taken up the issue of income-generating projects for women. It was the only women's group to join the CD coalition in calling for political change.
- Binaifer Nowrojee
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