Amnesty vs Nigerian army: Who is telling the truth?

Editor’s Note: In recent years, the Nigerian Army has disagreed with the global human rights group, Amnesty International over several reports of allegations of human rights violations by the army in the fight against Boko Haram. But the army also accused the group of bias. Who is right? Bayo Olupohunda, NAIJ.com's editor-in-chief examines the controversy.

The Nigerian army and the international human rights group, Amnesty International have a long history of engagement. While the Nigerian army as a fighting force engages with the nation’s enemy and has a responsibility to protect Nigeria’s territorial integrity, the Amnesty is a non-governmental organization focused on human rights with over 7 million members and supporters around the world.

The stated objective AI according to the information on the site is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated.” The group was founded in London in 1961, following the publication of the article "The Forgotten Prisoners" in The Observer on 28 May 1961, by the lawyer Peter Benenson.

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Since its existence, the group has been drawing attention to human rights abuses and campaigns for compliance with international laws and standards. It works to mobilise public opinion to put pressure on governments that let abuse take place. The organisation was awarded the 1977 Nobel Peace Prize for its "campaign against torture, “and the United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights in 1978.

Amnesty works in various parts of the world, but it is in its engagement in Nigeria that the group has met with the most resistance. When Boko Haram began its terror campaign in the north east in 2009, the Nigerian army was drawn into the conflicts to defeat the group and restore peace in the north east region where Boko Haram had gained foothold in its bid to establish a caliphate.

Since 2009, the Boko Haram terror war is reported to have claimed about 20, 000 lives. But the Nigerian Army has also been accused of extra-judicial murders in its campaign to flush out the group. In the course of the conflict, Amnesty International has worked in the north east to ensure that the rule of engagement is observed by both sides of the conflict. In several reports, the group has indicted both the Nigerian army and the Boko Haram terror group for gross human rights violations.

While the international community has condemned Boko Haram brutalities, the Nigerian military had also been condemned for its violations. This has prompted arms embargo especially by the United States.

Since 2009, apart from those that have been killed in suicide bombings and kidnapped by Boko Haram, the Nigerian army has been reported to have extra-judicially murdered those suspected to be members of Boko Haram or have sympathy for the group. In several reports, Amnesty has document what it alleged to be human rights violations committed by the Nigerian Army.

In its November 2012 report titled “Nigeria, in the cycle of violence”, Amnesty had reported how the brutal actions of Nigeria's security forces in response to Boko Haram's campaign of terror was making an already desperate situation even worse.

The 2012 report documented the atrocities carried out by Boko Haram as well as the serious human rights violations carried out by the security forces in response, including enforced disappearance, torture, extrajudicial executions, the torching of homes and detention without trial.“

The cycle of attack and counter-attack has been marked by unlawful violence on both sides, with devastating consequences for the human rights of those trapped in the middle,” Amnesty had reported. Hundreds of people accused of having links to Boko Haram were said to been arbitrarily detained and killed by the Joint Task Force.

In 2013, AI again reported the deaths of hundreds of people in detention facilities run by JTF. It called for investigation to be carried out as a matter of urgency. In the report, AI said it received credible information from a senior officer in the Nigerian Army that over 950 people died in military custody in the first six months of 2013 alone.

Most of the deaths were said to have occurred in facilities used by the military to detain people suspected of being members of or associated with the armed Islamist group Boko Haram. A large proportion of the deaths were reported to have happened in Giwa military barracks, Maiduguri in Borno State and Sector Alpha, commonly referred to as ‘Guantanamo’ and Presidential Lodge in Damaturu.

In 2014, gruesome video images released by Amnesty and testimonies said to be have been gathered from victims by the group provided fresh evidence of war crimes, including extrajudicial executions, and other serious human rights violations being carried out in north-east by the Nigerian army and Boko Haram.

The footage had revealed graphic evidence of multiple war crimes of detainees having their throats slit one by one and dumped in mass graves by men who appear to be members of the Nigerian military and the “Civilian Joint Task Force” (CJTF), state-sponsored militias. It also shows the aftermath of a Boko Haram raid on a village in which the armed group killed nearly 100 people. Again in 2014, a report titled “Welcome to Hell Fire” detailed the use of torture by the Nigerian military.  In a 2015 report titled “Stars on their Shoulders, Blood on their hands: War Crimes Committed by the Nigerian military”, Amnesty indicted the top army generals who it said committed grievous war crimes.

The group called on the Nigerian government and the United Nations to investigate. Amnesty had reported, “The Nigerian military, including senior military commanders, must be investigated for participating, sanctioning or failing to prevent the deaths of more than 8,000 people murdered, starved, suffocated, and tortured to death.”

In February 2016, AI condemned the Buhari government for the reinstatement of Major General Ahmadu Mohammed whom it had indicted in the 2015 report along with eight other senior commanders for their possible criminal responsibility in war crimes including the deaths of more than 8,000 of detainees. But Amnesty had also indicted Boko Haram too.

READ ALSO: AI accuses Nigerian army of killing Biafra protesters

The Nigerian army’s response to the reports has been characteristic. They have always denied the allegations and labelled group as a destabilizing agent. So, who is telling the truth? As a citizen, I believe the reports present the opportunity for soul searching. It offers the army to review its engagement. I believe our army is not infallible. Given their antecedents in Odi and Zaki Biam and onslaughts against IPOB and Shiites, where score of villagers and protesters were killed in reprisal attacks, the army must re-strategise to be a modern fighting force that respects rules of engagement and minimize collateral damage while protecting the human rights of locals caught in the conflict. Amnesty as a group must also realize the difficulties of fighting a terror war. While that must not be a reason for the Nigerian Army to violate human rights of Nigerians, the group must also seek to be partners in the war against terror.

Engaging with the Nigerian Army in capacity building and other trainings on how to engage with civilians during conflicts will minimize rights violations. But Amnesty must never fail in their duty as a watchdog. It must continue to expose human rights violations in Nigeria and other parts of the world. The world will be a better place when our leaders know they cannot get away with impunity and that they will be made to face the consequences of their actions someday. We build a better country when security forces respect human rights and protect the vulnerable in our midst.

Twitter: @bayoolupohunda

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial policy of NAIJ.com.

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