Open Society Justice Initiative Condemns Human Rights Crackdown in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria—The Open Society Justice Initiative today denounced a police crackdown on a meeting of human rights activists in Abuja and the threatened arrest of meeting organizers.

The meeting, termed a People's Tribunal, was organized by Nigerian human rights nongovernmental organizations to protest the recent removal of Bukhari Bello as head of Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission—a move interpreted by the nongovernmental organizations as a direct assault on the independence of that body.

The activists were to meet at a hotel in Abuja, but arrived to find it sealed off by police and members of the State Security Service. The police and State Security Service beat a group of activists who entered the hotel and forcibly dispersed the rest. Commissioner of Police Lawrence Alobi also ordered the arrest of meeting organizers, although so far no arrests have been made.

"Such a clumsy attempt to silence these activists belies Nigeria's supposed commitment to human rights," said James A. Goldston, executive director of the Justice Initiative. "The situation in Nigeria right now is not encouraging."

The controversy began June 16 when the National Human Rights Commission, under Bello's leadership, issued a statement criticizing government efforts "to muzzle the media." Three days later, Bello was informed by Federal Attorney General and Minister of Justice Bayo Ojo that he was being reassigned to another position.

According to legal experts, Bello is a presidential appointee who can only be removed by the president, not the minister of justice. In addition, Nigerian nongovernmental organizations charge that Ojo met with Bello before the reassignment and told Bello that the government was unhappy with his criticism of the government. The same nongovernmental organizations argue that government representatives told Nigerian media outlets to go easy in their treatment of Ojo.

Human rights nongovernmental organizations and activists protested the reassignment as an illegal attempt to weaken the National Human Rights Commission's authority.

The groups that were attempting to meet today are calling for an independent public inquiry into the sacking of Bello. They have released a report, "The People vs. the Federal Attorney General in the Matter of the Independence of Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission," which documents what the groups describe as a reprisal by the government against Bello.

"Ironically, today's crackdown shows why the [National Human Rights Commission] is so important," said Goldston. "The [commission] and Nigeria's human rights [nongovernmental organizations] should be supported and strengthened, not attacked and undermined."

The crackdown comes less than a month after Nigeria took its place on the new United Nations Human Rights Council.