NAN-H-40
Compensation
By Angela Atabo
Abuja, Aug. 8, 2017 (NAN) A Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Citizens Advocacy for Social and Economic Rights (CASER), has called on the Federal Government to appropriate N300 billion as compensation to victims of rights violations.
The Executive Director of the group, Mr Frank Tietie, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said that the funds should be administered by the National Human Rights Commission to assist Nigerians, who had suffered rights abuses.
Tietie said the establishment of the commission to address human rights violations by Nigerian security forces was significant and marked a turning point in the grim human rights record in the country.
“President Buhari’s administration has made its most significant and courageous decision by the recent establishment of a Judicial Commission by the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to address cases of human rights violations by security forces.
“We, at CASER, commend the government for the action and we ask that consequently, it should further commit to ensuring that the aim of the Judicial Commission is achieved.
“We are, however, concerned that this significant move by the government might end up being another missed opportunity as the 1999 Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (The Oputa Panel).
“The report was not published and recommendations not carried out.
“Firstly, we observe that the 90-day time-frame given to the commission to submit its report is quite short considering the large number of human rights violations that have been suffered by Nigerian citizens,’’ he said.
Tietie said that the judicial commission should not be a cosmetic attempt by the government and should also not be a mere playing to the gallery of the international community.
He said that the commission should guard against the presumption that the military, particularly the Nigerian Army, had been mainly responsible for human rights violations in Nigeria.
He said that in spite of the highly accentuated excesses of the Army in the media, the group’s recent findings showed that Nigerian citizens had suffered huge human rights abuses.
This, Tietie said, was in the abuse and misuse of police powers either by members of the police force or by the political class.
He said that one of the shortcomings of the Oputa Panel was that it dwelt more on human rights violations that arose from high profile political events like military coups and assassination of political figures.
According to him, this led to neglecting the already entrenched culture and regime of disregard for the basic or fundamental human rights of Nigerian citizens.
Tietie said the Oputa Panel would have opened a new vista of increased official recognition and respect for human rights in Nigeria.
He, therefore, urged the government to extend the duration of the judicial commission from 90 days to one year, saying that it would afford it sufficient time to gather and analyse written and oral testimonials from citizens.
He urged the government to give adequate funding to the commission, and said that no amount of money should be spared in ensuring that the commission carried out its mandate.
The executive secretary also called on the government to make public the amount required to fund the commission, and advised that if intended funding was inadequate, partnership with development partners, international organisations should be sought.
He said that the commission’s hearings should be open to public, so that the media would be allowed to broadcast live its proceedings. (NAN)
ATAB/DO/OPI
Edited by David Onilede and Olisa Ifeajika