Human Rights Abuses in Nigeria September 1996

HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES IN NIGERIA September 1996 - October 1997 UPDATE

In addition to the abuses outlined in our previous report, there are now confirmed the following atrocities committed by the Nigerian police force and authorities in the period September 1996 - March 1997:

1. Police opened fire on an evening lesson in a mosque in the village of Yar Rimawa in Sokoto State. Four people were killed including a sixty year old woman.

2. Islamic centres in Zaria and Yola were demolished.

3. Six Muslim Primary Schools were destroyed in Katsina State.

4. Eight houses belonging to members of the Islamic movement were demolished in Dinya village, near Zaria.

5. Gang rapes and indecent assaults by members of the police forces on women and children in the village of Marinkawa in Katsina state, have been confirmed.

6. Unmarked mass graves have been found in Tudun Wada cemetery in Kaduna. Security forces buried a number of corpses in the aftermath of the protest in Kaduna calling for the release of Mu'allim Ibrahim Al-Zakzaky (September 1996), in which police opened fire on a peaceful demonstration. An estimated fifty were killed, and a hundred are still unaccounted for.

Whilst an estimated 400 - 600 of the 1000 Muslim detainees have been released in the last four months, further atrocities continue.

In July 1997, police attacked a gathering to celebrate the religious festival that marks the Prophet Muhammad's birthday. One passer-by was killed, and several injured. Official sources admitted that 280 rounds of ammunition were fired into the crowd.

August 1997 saw the arrest of Brother Adam and Mallam Ahmed in Zaria. The first was beaten and the second tortured to death in separate incidents.

The extended report on September 1996 onwards follows. [END]

Nigeria: September 1996 - March 1997

SEPTEMBER 1996 - MARCH 1997

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN NIGERIA

The Islamic Human Rights Commission has been researching the deteriorating human rights situation in Nigeria, particularly over the last year. This report covers the specific period since the arrest of Mu'allim Ibrahim Yaqub Al-Zakzaky, the well-known Muslim cleric and leader of Nigeria's Islamic opposition, on 12 September 1996. It covers abuses levelled at the Islamic opposition in Nigeria, some of which has been documented, and some of which has been reported in international news media although often incorrectly.

The Free Al-Zakzaky! campaign was set up at the time of the arrest of Ibrahim Al-Zakzaky on 12 September 1996.

The terms Islamic opposition and Muslim Brotherhood are used interchangeably. During the Hajj season of 1996, when Nigerians were prevented by Saudi authorities from attending the annual pilgrimage, demonstrations called by Mu'allim Al-Zakzaky and the Brotherhood, saw three million Muslims across Nigeria participate. The movement is non-sectarian and consists of a majority of Sunni (mainstream) Muslim followers, as well as a minority of Shia Muslims.

It has been one of the greatest misrepresentations of the plight of the Muslim brotherhood, particularly by reporting by Reuters that followers of Al-Zakzaky are Shi'ites, and their movement is based on sectarian lines. A reference to appendices I and II, show from the names of those killed and imprisoned that the majority are Sunni.

1. Freedom of protest 2. Killings, extra judicial assassination attempts 3. Rapes, harassment 4. Destruction of places of worship, religious institutions 5. Political detentions, and political imprisonment, trials without due process

Appendix I Names and details of those killed Appendix II Names and details of political detainees and prisoners

1. Freedom of protest There have been severe restrictions on any attempt at protest. Subsequent to the arrest of Mu'allim Ibrahim Al-Zakzaky, demonstrations were organised in various parts of northern Nigeria, for the next day 13.9.96. Anti-riot police and tanks were deployed to prevent all. Only one proceeded in Zaria City, where an estimated 12,000 protesters took to the streets in an organised, peaceful demonstration. This was evidenced by the participation of many women, with young families in tow. Confirmed reports from eyewitnesses and human rights organisations tell of how mobile police units threw tear gas into the crowds, causing confusion and then opened fire. Eleven protesters were killed and two died the next day from their injuries. Amongst the dead on the day were Abubakr Rabi'u Galadimana (pictured on the Genocide in Nigeria page), a boy aged three years. His four month old sister was shot in the arm, and his mother was also injured.

Arrested with Al-Zakzaky on 12.9.96 was Mr. Hamid Danlami, the publisher of Al-Mizan, an Islamic newspaper. He and Al-Zakzaky were detained without charge upon suspicion of inter alia, possession of a newspaper (the said Al-Mizan) without a government licence, and illegal possession of a radio station. Neither Al-Zakzaky or Danlami were ever involved with any radio station, and to date neither have actually been charged over publishing without a licence.

A commemoration assembly / demonstration for those killed on 13.9.96 was organised in Kaduna City for 18.9.96. Again mobile police units and military units opened fire on protesters as the demonstration ended in the market area. Ten thousand protesters attended, and many were wounded. Of the 20 killed, 14 were bystanders, and not connected with the demonstration. Again protesters were unarmed and peaceful, with a large number of women and families attending. An estimated 50 men were arrested. In addition to the mobile police units, tanks were also deployed, and protesters also allege that air force helicopter gunships participated in the attack. There are further reports that there were anti-riot police and soldiers, some in armoured tanks, and others in military trucks. Further claims say that the air force were flying air beetles over the city, from where they were able to transmit the position of the protesters to the troops below."

Further large demonstrations were held on Friday 7 February 1997, when protesters marched after Friday prayers for the annual "Quds Day" demonstration in various parts of Nigeria. "Quds Day" is a protest against injustices in Palestine, and takes place every year in many different parts of the world. Although the theme of protests against the detention of Al-Zakzaky and his followers was again present, the demonstration itself was not unscheduled or unusual. At least four were shot dead in Kano , and an estimated 800 taken into custody.

In a similar incident in Sokoto, north west Nigeria, around 200 men and a hundred women, some with their children were arrested. The women and children were later released due to intense local pressure. However all were rendered unconscious during their detention, and subjected to indecent attacks.

The men were split up into groups of about ten and then taken to mobile police barracks for interrogation. In the last week of February those detained were moved into prison custody without charge. The process of detention without charge makes it difficult to ascertain the numbers and identities of those held, and those missing feared dead (see sec.2 below), as formal charges are not usually heard in a court, or even in a special tribunal ( a system set up by Abacha's regime to bypass the regular courts).

On 20 February, news reached us that men arrested and held since the detention of Al-Zakzaky for possession of his speeches, photographs and videos had been summarily sentenced to between 2 to 8 years imprisonment for possession of those items. These judgements were passed by special court ruling, without the attendance of those convicted, and without due process.

On 27 February 1997, 50 men arrested in connection with the Kaduna demonstration of 18.9.96 were scheduled to appear in court to be charged. This hearing had already been adjourned twice, and was adjourned once again. They have still not been charged, and remain political detainees (see sec.5)

It appears that possession of copy speeches of Al-Zakzaky, his deputy Mallam Turi and other prominent theologians is now an offence for which summary arrest and sentencing can be enforced.

2. Extra judicial killings and assassination attempts.

Further to the killings of demonstrators by mobile police units and military forces, other credible and alarming reports are coming from northern Nigeria, of extra judicial killings and assassination attempts. It is believed that those named as missing have been summarily executed . Their bodies have not been returned to families for confirmation. However there are eyewitness reports of a mass burial of 14 men, summarily executed by mobile police forces.

As with the case of the senior wife of Chief Abiola, and other aides of his, extra judicial killings and disappearance are on the increase in Nigeria. There have been attempts on the life of Al-Zakzaky himself in the past. In a previous detention, there were attempts to poison him. In 1995, one of his companions was killed and another seriously injured, in a shooting incident in broad daylight. No police action was taken, and the two assassins never traced.

3. Rapes, harassment

(a) Aside from sexual harassment and indecent assault of women whilst in custody, we also have credible reports of attacks on women associated with the movement, by mobile police forces. These reports are as yet to be confirmed, but seem to be an external extension of a policy that is confirmed to be used by the police force.

We have a confirmed report of a gang rape of one female in police custody. She was accused of being an activist and detained without charge for three days, during which time she was repeatedly and violently raped by a number of officers, before being released without charge. The incident took place in November 1996, in Kano. There have been similar reports from Kano and other parts of Nigeria. Details of the victims are not being released for fear of repercussions.

(b) There have also been a number of cases of victimisation of the families of those arrested and killed as well as those associated with the movement. In particular the family of Al-Zakzaky has been targeted.

In general there have been many cases of intimidation, confiscation of property and savings, and forced homelessness. In the immediate aftermath of the arrest of Al-Zakzaky and twenty four others on 12.9.96, police confiscated a printing machine and materials as well as a large sum of money from the house of Hamid Danlami, one of the men arrested with Al-Zakzaky.

The families of those detained then and subsequently have been faced with eviction or the destruction of their homes. Zeenah Ibrahim, the wife of Al-Zakzaky and her six young children were eventually evicted in November 1996, by their landlord who was ordered by Kaduna State Urban Planning and Development Authority (KASUPDA), since end September, to have them removed from his premises or face having his property destroyed. This left Zeenah Ibrahim, her six children, Al-Zakzaky's mother, two nieces, a nephew and the wives of several members of the movement who had been imprisoned, under threat of homelessness.

This threat was made by regional authorities, and was executed in other cases by police forces. By end October 1996 there were 300 families of men detained, either without or in imminent danger of loosing their homes, due to such pressures. Some also faced starvation or malnourishment due to the lack of earnings from their imprisoned breadwinner. A general sense of fear, on the part of anyone willing or able to provide temporary accommodation has prevailed since October 1996, by the threat of demolition of the property of anyone who offers shelter to someone associated with the movement.

Many lost their homes when, on 10th October 1996, heavily armed security agents numbering in excess of 200 besieged Bekaji Islamic Centre Complex in Bekaji Housing Estate, in Zaria City. Several men, women and children accused of belonging to the movement were arrested and bulldozers and other equipment brought in to destroy the complex (see sec 4 below). Those arrested, including children, were detained for two days and released without charge.

(c) The family of Al-Zakzaky have been particularly targeted. Al-Zakzaky's son Mohammed Ibrahim, aged eleven at the time was severely beaten by police forces in November 1996. There have also been three attempts to arrest Mohammed Ibrahim. An arrest warrant for Zeenah Ibrahim was circulated in November 1996, just days before she was due to have her seventh child. Her account of the incidents, received in November 1996, is printed below. It has been confirmed through other sources.

"I, Zeenah Ibrahim, the wife of Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Zakzaky - who is presently detained unjustly by this tyrannical government of Sani Abacha - wish to make my condition and situation known to the press, the general public and all freedom loving people of the world. I also hope by doing so to expose the dirty face of this government and the extent of Abacha's regime's abuse of human rights. "After the arrest of my husband, I and my children have been subjected to terrible harassment by the security forces. They constantly raided our house day and night; on one such occasion, the children were about to have their supper when they broke in and they so frightened the children that even after their departure the children slept without having any meal. On about three occasions they attempted to arrest my eldest child Mohammed who is just eleven years old. "Last Sunday 24th November 1996, they again raided our new house when they arrived but I came back while they were still ransacking the house. I parked the car, I was riding just outside the house and was immediately surrounded by some of them, who asked me to give them particulars of the car. Before I could go in and bring out the particulars, they started the car without its keys and went off with it. I followed them to their station in Zaria City where they claimed that they had an order from Abuja to confiscate the car. the next day I pursued the matter with their A.C. at Police Headquarters in Zaria and produced the particulars of the car since they alleged it was a stolen car. The A.C. pretended to me that it was a simple case and that the car could be restored to me that very day. He directed me to go back to the D.P.O in Zaria City Police Station and promised to ask him to co-operate with me over the phone. But on my way to the station I was warned by a friendly security agent not to go near the station for there had just arrived an order for my detention. As I am expecting my baby at any moment from now I decided to go into hiding until I deliver my baby safely. After delivery, I would certainly go back home and await the execution of this inhuman order. "I have been forcibly separated from my children. My presence with them was at least a consolation to them. Now that I am away from them, I do not know what inhuman moves could be made against them. To date since the arrest of Mu'allim they have perpetrated great crimes against us, ranging from the killing and maiming of 1000's of people who protested peacefully against the unjust arrest of Mu'allim, destroying our house which is under construction, pressurising the landlord of the house we were renting at the time of the arrest to evacuate us out of the house even before the end of our tenure, denying us access to the telephone services and threatening the Nigerian Telecommunications Technicians in Zaria terrible consequences if they dare restore the line, to ordering the constant arrest and harassment of Mu'allim's students and anyone found in the vicinity of our house each time they raided us, confiscation of my car, beating my niece, destruction of our property, demolition of our schools in some towns and villages and now forcibly separating me from my children, the youngest of which is just 19 months old, this is not to mention the verbal insults passed on to us each time they raided our house. Those in detention have been subjected to terrible tortures, such as beating and breaking of limbs and bones. "It is the duty of all freedom loving people to protest against these acts of blatant abuse of human rights and atrocities committed by this oppressive government of Abacha. To date, they have denied any access to Mu'allim, so I fear for his safety. They have not said for what crime he is held."

4. Destruction of places of worship, religious institutions

On 28.9.96 Kaduna State Urban Planning and Development Authority (KASUPDA) demolished a Mosque, Islamic Seminary and teaching and student accommodation, being built by Al-Zakzaky. The structures were in various stages of construction, but all were nearly completed. KASUPDA had previously granted full planning permission to Al-Zakzaky to build the development.

In the destruction of part of Bekaji Housing Estate (3b above), only specific parts were destroyed, which it is assumed were deemed to be important to the movement. Amongst these were the residence of the Imam, a sick-bay, and a nursery / primary school. The grounds given were that the structures were erected without licence. However the Mosque, which was the focal point for these structures, was left standing as was the similar Church complex, all of which infringed the same criteria set down as a reason for the demolition of the Islamic centre complex.

According to the suspended 1979 Constitution of Nigeria (the 1989 constitution never having been implemented), freedom of religion, expression (which includes religious belief), and movement and association are guaranteed by ss35,36 and 39 respectively. Although Nigerian land law allows the appropriation of property by the government "for public use", this law does not extend to cover property which is already in public use. This site was freely accessible to the public. By the secular standards which Abacha's regime claim to have adopted, and by any standard whether secular or Islamic the destruction of these constructions is a grotesque violation of the rights of those affected.

October 1996 also saw the destruction of three Islamic primary schools in different parts of northern Nigeria. There are unconfirmed reports of the destruction of at least 15 more. No reasons have been given by any authority in Nigeria for the destruction of these schools.

5. Political detention, political imprisonment and trials without due process

(a) At the date of writing, IHRC estimates that almost 1000 alleged supporters of Al-Zakzaky have been incarcerated since his arrest. Conditions in prison, documented elsewhere , are poor. Prisoners in the main, have to provide their own provisions, either from their savings, or brought to them by relatives and friends. In the cases of those imprisoned from the movement, including Al-Zakzaky himself, many have been moved to prisons outside their home areas, making it difficult to send supplies to them. It also makes it difficult to keep track of their conditions, and indeed in some cases to ascertain whether they are alive or not.

(b) Specific cases.

(i) Mu'allim Ibrahim Yaqub Al-Zakzaky. Arrested on 12.9.96. Then resident in Kwarbai quarters, Zaria City, Kaduna. Al-Zakzaky, the 43 year old leader of Nigeria's Islamic movement was forcibly removed from his home at 6a.m. on the morning of Thursday 12.9.96.

"To immobilise the . . . leader and his followers, the police has fired scores of canisters of tear-gas into his home. The entire neighbourhood, including the palace of the emir of Zaria and the home of Nuhu Bamai were not spared."

He was taken "battered and bruised" to the local police station and then on to Kaduna prison, where in the next few days a stand-off situation ensued between supporters who were picketing the prison, and the military, which deployed tanks around the prison. Al-Zakzaky was kept incommunicado, however reports leaked out that an attempt to forcibly inject him with an unknown substance had been made by warders. More protests developed locally (referred to above) which claimed inter alia, that the regime was trying to assassinate Al-Zakzaky in prison.

Al-Zakzaky was subsequently transferred to Port Harcourt prison near Lagos in November 1996. Al-Zakzaky is an economist by training, as well as being an eminent and highly learned Islamic scholar. He is internationally renowned for his scholarship.

The background to his arrest, stems from a meeting held by the sixteen military governors in July 1996 , in which it was decided to clamp down on the Islamic opposition to the military regime. Kaduna's new military governor Hamed Ibrahim Ali, a lieutenant-colonel is renowned for his brutality. He is a "criminologist and lawyer", and was one of the Auta tribunal which convicted Ken Saro-Wiwa, the Ogoni nationalist, to death in 1995.

Despite some media speculation that the arrest of Al-Zakzaky was in retaliation to verbal protests raised by Muslims to an incident of 'blasphemy' in the first week of September in Kafanchan, Ali's new administration had begun abuses against whomsoever they saw to be an Islamic opponent. In August, 13 men had their beards set alight by police, leaving them with facial burns.

(ii) Mallam Turi. Mallam Turi is a senior cleric, and deputy of Al-Zakzaky. He was one of the twenty four arrested with Al-Zakzaky. Of the twenty four, 2 were women, and all but Al-Zakzaky and three others were released the next day. Mallam Turi was one of those released. He addressed the demonstration held the next day (see 1a above).

He is of a similar age as Al-Zakzaky, and is also from Zaria City. He was rearrested on 18.9.96, and is still detained without charge.

Both men are well-known orators, and possession of their speeches whether written or on audio or video cassette is now grounds for detention (see 1 above). They have been arrested and imprisoned before, by various regimes, including Abacha's. However their recent detention has more significance in the support the movement now has, and the respect that the two men now have in Nigeria at large.

In 1996, when Saudi Arabia banned Nigerians from attending the annual Hajj pilgrimage, demonstrations were called by the Muslim Brotherhood. Across Nigeria, it is estimated that 3 million took part in peaceful protests. The movement has openly opposed the Abacha regime, although it has never advocated or condoned violence. By the beginning of February 1997, the Abacha regime had changed its reasons for the detention of Al-Zakzaky from those cited above, to simply for 'security reasons.' It is for these reasons, that IHRC and other bodies fear for the safety of these two men in particular, as well as all those detained by the Abacha regime for political reasons. The transition to a multi-party system promised by Abacha in 1998, although behind schedule would see the Muslim Brotherhood attain true political status.

Those arrested come from different backgrounds. Apart from clerics and religious students, a prominent university lecturer was also arrested on 8.10.96, as well as agricultural workers, housewives and many of other employment. Assurances for the safety of all those named in Appendix II have been sought by IHRC from the Nigerian government but no reply has been received. The names are unfortunately not exhaustive, and are constantly being updated.

Of those listed none have been sentenced by due process of law. None have been able to receive legal representation (there are also unconfirmed reports of the denial of medical assistance where required). Those sentenced to imprisonment were not allowed to attend the special session of court which gave these sentences.

Despite representations made by human rights organisations and some governments, there has been no change in the situation. Arbitrary arrest and detention continues. IHRC and other groups await the sentencing of the others detained, although there is no indication of when that may be. In the meantime, we aim to continue seeking assurances for their safety, in the hope that it may not already be too late.