Shocking, lacks merit’, DHQ rejects Amnesty’s 10,000 civilian deaths allegation
‘Shocking, lacks merit’, DHQ rejects Amnesty’s 10,000 civilian deaths allegation
By Fly Cable News
The Defence Headquarters has rejected claims by Amnesty International that 10, 000 persons died in its custody since the Boko Haram conflict began in the northeast.
The international human rights organisation’s Country Director, Isa Sanusi, at a briefing in Maiduguri, accused Boko Haram and the military of many abuses.
According to him, military personnel violated rules of engagement while carrying out their assignments in the region.
He regretted how the military denied the involvement of its personnel in atrocity after being served with Amnesty’s report before it was made public. Sanusi announced that the human rights body had already filed a case before the International Court of Justice, ICJ, at the Hague over alleged crimes against humanity in the North-east. “Attacks on schools, teachers and students, including their abduction, have been committed so as to prevent people, especially children, from receiving what Boko Haram considers a ‘Western’ education.
“Boko Haram is generally translated from Hausa as ‘Western education is forbidden. Boko Haram has committed war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian law, including murder; attacks on civilians and civilian objects; indiscriminate attacks; disproportionate attacks; torture; cruel treatment; conscription (including through abductions) and use of child soldiers under the age of 15; attacks on buildings dedicated to education,” the report said.
“Consequently, in a series of reports since 2015, Amnesty International has concluded that Boko Haram members should also be investigated for the crimes against humanity of murder; enslavement; imprisonment; torture; rape; sexual slavery; sexual violence; persecution; and forced marriage as “other inhumane acts,” the report said. According to the report, in response to the military atrocities in its operations against the armed group (Boko Haram) “the Nigerian military has often treated anyone in, or coming out of Boko Haram-controlled areas as, at minimum, a suspected Boko Haram member.
“Amnesty International has documented war crimes by government forces, including intentional attacks against the civilian population; indiscriminate attacks that have killed or injured civilians; extrajudicial executions, which also constitute the war crime of murder; torture; cruel treatment; rape; and sexual violence.
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