4 Things 'Human Rights Watch' wants Buhari to do

chika ebuzor

July 21, 2015 8:00 AM

In responding to Boko Haram, Nigerian government security forces have been implicated in grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

The human rights advocacy group, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has listed various things they would like President Obama to talk to President Buhari about.

Speaking to the media, the Washington Director for HRW, Sarah Margon said “If the US is discussing further financial or technical support for Nigeria’s security forces it should insist on clear benchmarks on how they will ensure respect for human rights.”

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On Boko Haram Margon said “The conflict in the North-east between Boko Haram and Nigeria’s security forces has become increasingly deadly and is one of the critical challenges facing Nigeria’s new administration. An estimated 8,000 civilians are believed to have been killed since 2010, 400 of them since Buhari’s inauguration on May 29, 2015. Nearly one million people have been displaced. There is abundant evidence that Boko Haram forces have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. The group has targeted civilians in Nigeria, Niger, Cameroun, and Chad, abducted hundreds of women and girls, forcibly conscripted young men and boys, and destroyed villages, towns, and schools.”

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Adding that "In responding to Boko Haram, Nigerian government security forces have been implicated in grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, including incommunicado detention, extrajudicial killings, and enforced disappearances. The Nigerian police are also credibly implicated in several highly publicised extrajudicial killings of Boko Haram members or suspects. Almost no one has been held to account for human rights crimes. On July 13, Buhari replaced the national security adviser, the chief of defense staff, and the military service chiefs.”

Here are the things Human Rights Watch wants President Buhari to do:

1. To raise address relating to critical human rights challenges in Nigeria.

2. To keep his commitment to ensure that government security forces respect human rights.

3. To address the endemic corruption that has deprived many Nigerians of their basic rights.

4. To repeal the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act, which became law during during Goodluck Jonathan's administration

President Buhari is currently on an official visit to the United states, as a guest of President Obama.

chika ebuzor