U.S. report scores Nigeria low on electoral system, human rights
Guardian March 3 2005
From Laolu Akande, New York
A RECENT United States (U.S.) State Department yearly Human Rights Report released early this week, has observed that Nigerians still find it difficult to fully assert their rights to change their leaders through the ballot box.
The report, which is authorised by the U.S. Congress, is central to American policy towards other countries. This year's report was no less scathing of continued fundamental human rights violations in Nigeria.
Titled: "2004 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in Nigeria", it said that the Federal Government's "human rights record remained poor and the government continued to commit serious abuses."
It cited the abridging of Nigerians' rights to vote and possibly change their government as a pointer that not much has happened on the human rights terrain in Nigeria.
The 23-page report observed that "nation-wide local government elections held during the year were not generally judged free and fair and therefore abridged the citizens' right to change their government."
It said that in April 2003, President Olusegun Obasanjo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was re-elected for a second term through an election that international and domestic observers adjudged as marred by serious irregularities, fraud and political violence.
The report explained that elections also resulted in the ruling PDP claiming 70 per cent of the seats in the National Assembly and 75 per cent of the gubernatorial race, adding that throughout the year, opposition parties continued to challenge the election in court.
The U.S. government noted that "on December 20, an election tribunal voided part of the 2003 election results, including the entire result of Ogun State, President Obasanjo's home state, and found that there was significant rigging, but by a three-one vote, declined to overturn the election."
Commenting on the independence of the judiciary, it remarked that although the judicial branch remained susceptible to pressures from the executive and legislative arms, the performance of the federal courts showed growing autonomy.
The case is however different for the state and local judiciary, which the U.S. stated were significantly influenced by political leaders and suffered from corruption and inefficiency more than the federal courts.
It not did spare the security forces, which it accused of extra-judicial killings and excessive use of force.
The report said: "There were several politically motivated killings by unknown persons during the year (2004). Security forces regularly beat protesters, criminal suspects, detainees, and convicted prisoners. There were fewer reported incidents of torture by security agents than in previous years. Impunity was a problem."
Turning to the Sharia law, the U.S. government said that Sharia courts sentenced persons to harsh punishments, including amputations and death by stoning; however, there were no reports of amputation or stoning sentences carried out during the period.
The report also declared that "prison conditions were harsh and life threatening, and conditions contributed to the death of numerous inmates. Security forces continued to arrest and detain persons arbitrarily, including for political reasons. Prolonged pre-trial detention remained a serious problem. The judicial system often was incapable of providing criminal suspects with speedy and fair trials. The authorities occasionally infringed on citizens' privacy rights."
The Nigeria Police Force was also criticised. The report accused them of failing to control ethno-religious violence on numerous occasions last year with the government relying on soldiers to quell such disturbances.
Regarding freedom of speech and the press, the U.S. insisted that the government sometimes restricted these freedoms. "The government at times restricted freedom of speech and the press. The government continued placing limits on freedom of assembly, citing security concerns. Some state governments placed limit on some religious rights, and some government programmes discriminated between religious groups.
"The government occasionally restricted freedom of movement for security reasons in areas of unrest and used lethal force at checkpoints.
"Domestic violence and discrimination against women remained widespread. Female genital mutilation (remained) widely practised in some parts of the country, and child abuse and child prostitution were common. Inter-communal violence remained a problem," it lamented.
It said that some militant members of ethnic groups particularly in the oil-producing Niger Delta continued to commit serious abuses, including unlawful killings. Ethnic and regional discrimination remained widespread, and localised religious discrimination and violence persisted, the report claimed.
According to the Americans, "restrictions on workers' rights were pervasive. Some persons, including children, were subjected to forced labour. Child labour continued to be a problem. Trafficking in persons for purposes of prostitution and forced labour was a problem, and collusion of government officials in trafficking was alleged. Vigilante violence` continued throughout the country, particularly in parts of the South."
On the economic front, it observed that the "Central Bank reported that country's market-based economy grew 10.2 per cent in real terms in 2003," but added, "inadequate infrastructure, endemic corruption, and general economic mismanagement hindered economic growth."
It put the Nigerian population at approximately 137 million, stressing that most of them remain in the rural areas and are engaged in small-scale agriculture, which accounted for only 35.8 per cent of gross domestic product."
Similarly, the U.S. said that increased unemployment was a problem, and that much of Nigeria's wealth remained in the hands of a small elite.
The report also said "corruption, non-transparent government contracting practices, and other practices favoured the wealthy and politically influential, including a banking system that impeded small and medium investors' access to credit and regulatory and tax regimes that were not always enforced impartially".
It said that wages and benefits did not keep pace with inflation. "There were numerous work stoppages at different levels of government due to non-payment of salaries with a grim portrayal of the nation's poverty level based on the International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimate that 96 million citizens lived below the poverty line and were vulnerable to malnutrition and disease."`
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