HRW urges Nigeria to probe Giwa massacre

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. File picture: Mujahid Safodien

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. File picture: Mujahid Safodien

Published Mar 18, 2016

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Gaborone - United States-based global human rights advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that Nigerian Army troops who took part in the summary execution of more than 640 men and boys following a Boko Haram-led jail-break near the northern city of Maiduguri in March 2014 are arrested and brought to trial.

In a statement released this week, HRW said the killings at Giwa army barracks happened as the army rounded up suspected militants who had escaped from a military-run prison after Islamist insurgency group Boko Haram attacked the facility to free its members.

According to HRW, the Nigerian Army committed possible crimes against humanity during an indiscriminate operation to re-capture the escaped militants.

“The people killed there (at Giwa) are just some of the more than 640 men and boys slaughtered by the Nigerian Army on 14 March 2014. Most of them were shot, but some had their throats cut, before they were tossed into open mass graves. Two years on, not a single person has been held to account for this atrocity.

“The jailbreak that preceded this carnage in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri in March 2014 occurred when the armed group Boko Haram descended on Giwa barracks in the early hours of the morning. The blood dried, the rains came but justice remains elusive for the Giwa 640,” HRW said in the statement.

Most of the dead were allegedly killed after being captured in security sweeps by Nigerian Army counter-insurgency troops and a pro-government militia known as the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), which is trained and armed by the army.

HRW expressed disappointment that none of the soldiers who were based at Giwa had been arrested two years after the crime.

“In several locations around the city residents tried to help these hungry, thirsty and weak boys and men. As they did so, the militia group known as the Civilian Joint Task Force and the military arrived and re-arrested them. Once back in custody, the soldiers shot them in cold blood in the streets, or took them out of town and killed them. Their bodies were buried in multiple mass graves,” HRW said.

The report quoted one witness who said that on the fateful day, soldiers manning one military checkpoint in Giwa ordered their hundreds of captives to lie face-down before executing at least 198 of them in cold blood.

HRW said despite video and photographic evidence, dozens of witness accounts and satellite imagery obtained by Amnesty International last year, the Nigerian government was yet to investigate the killings.

“The massacre at Giwa and the failure to hold anyone to account for it is a stark reminder of the culture of impunity that exists for human rights violations in Nigeria. The horrific acts committed by Boko Haram must end and perpetrators of crimes under international law in its ranks must be punished. But their horrific acts cannot and should not be used to justify the Nigerian military’s unlawful conduct and human rights violations,” HRW said.

Further, the group has suggested that the International Criminal Court (ICC) should step in to investigate the crimes and try the perpetrators if the Nigerian government proves unwilling to conduct an impartial probe and trial process for the Giwa massacre.

“The question is not one for Nigeria alone. The ICC announced in November last year that there is sufficient evidence of crimes within its jurisdiction to warrant investigations. This is Nigeria’s responsibility. However, if the government shows itself to be unwilling or unable to investigate, the ICC must step in,” HRW said.

The organisation said the investigations should be extended to hold Nigeria’s international military backers such as the United Kingdom and the USA accountable since they were the providers of the arms, training and advice used by the Nigerian Army in repressive counter-insurgency operations.

African News Agency

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