…calls for investigation, accountability for inhumane treatment
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) has called for an end to the inhuman condition of detention in Nigeria.
In a statement issued by the Country Rapporteur on Human Rights in Nigeria, Commissioner Solomon Ayele Dersso, PhD, has urged the Federal Government to conduct an independent investigation into the conditions under which detained persons are held.
The ACHPR has also called for accountability for any inhumane treatment such persons are subjected to as well as verifying that Nigeria’s detention facilities meet standards that uphold detainees’ dignity and health.
The statement follows reported detention and the mistreatment of detained persons, including minors, who are facing treason charges related to their participation in protests held in August 2024.
The Commission stated that it has received various reports during the past weeks indicating that as many as 76 people, including children as young as 14 years old, have been detained, under conditions that do not meet minimum standards of human dignity and care in Nigeria.
The statement reads in part: “The African Commission is alarmed by reports that those detained, including the minors, have endured inhumane conditions for an extended period of time with little regard to their due process rights. Such conditions of detention may amount to violation of Article 5 of the African Charter and the right to due process of the law guaranteed under Article 7 of the African Charter.”
The African Commission therefore expressed concern that the reported charging of protestors, children included, for treason not only may amount to excessive restriction to freedom of assembly but also has adverse effects on human rights in Nigeria and on the country’s human rights record. Of utmost concern for the African Commission is the risk of the treason charges carrying the death penalty.
To this end, Dr Dersso urged the Federal Government to ensure that the conditions of detention in Nigeria comply with minimum standards of humane treatment of the detained with particular attention, for children, to the standards under the African Charter on Rights and Welfare of the Child.
“Children should not only be provided with adequate food, water, and sanitation as well as medical care but also should be kept in secure facilities separate from the places of detention for adults.”
Similarly, the Commission called on the Federal Government to ensure respect for the right to due process of the law in accordance with Article 7 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Principles and Guidelines on the Right to Fair Trial and Legal Assistance under the African Charter.
According to the Commission, the launching of prosecution should not constitute both unjustifiable restrictions amounting to a violation of the right to peaceful protest and arbitrary deprivation of liberty
