We urge your administration to focus as a matter of urgency on the restoration of respect for human rights and the rule of law in the delta region. Among other steps, the government should appoint an independent judicial enquiry to investigate the human rights violations in the delta, including over the New Year period, and should discipline or prosecute those responsible, compensate the victims, and release or charge those who are still detained. In addition, your government should replace soldiers carrying out policing duties in the Niger Delta area and elsewhere with regular police with training in public order policing. We also urge you to institute an immediate, inclusive and transparent process of negotiation with freely chosen representatives of the peoples living in the Niger Delta to resolve the issues surrounding the production of oil. The police are responsible for widespread violations, including extrajudicial executions.
Prison conditions are life-threatening.
There is an urgent need to focus on these and other issues relating to the administration of justice, in conjunction with the national Human Rights Commission and the human rights community in Nigeria, as well as international agencies who can give technical assistance, in order to help restore respect for human rights and the rule of law respect that is essential not only for the rights of the Nigerian people, but also to promote the sort of external investment that will be necessary to bring Nigeria out of its current economic crisis. Although most international and domestic observers of the local, state and federal elections in Nigeria welcomed their peaceful completion as an important step forward in the return of Nigeria to civilian government, they also noted serious flaws in the process at all stages. These irregularities included inflated figures for voter turnout, stuffing of ballot boxes, intimidation and bribery of both electoral officials and voters, and alteration of results at collation centres. These irregularities were widespread, but were particularly serious in the South-South zone of the country, the Niger Delta region. We urge you to work with national and international organizations in order to ensure that the next elections held in Nigeria do represent a more genuine process.