European Parliament resolution the human rights situation in Nigeria
Date: 2001-11-15
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: EU relations, Islamic law, Nigeria, civilian victim, ethnic conflict, human rights, parliamentary diplomacy, religious fundamentalism

13.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 140 E/583

Thursday 15 November 2001

4.
Takes the view that the measures taken thus far to ensure safety of road transport are insufficient,
particularly in certain tunnels, and notes that, unfortunately, all too often not even minimum standards are
adhered to;

Calls for priority to be given to rail transport of freight, particularly in mountainous and hazardous

5.
areas; reaffirms the urgent need to transfer transalpine traffic from the roads to the railways;

6.
Calls on the Commission to present at the earliest opportunity the new directive that has already
been announced on the harmonisation of minimum safety standards for road and rail tunnels, and under-
takes to cooperate fully with the Council and Commission to ensure its rapid adoption and implemen-
tation; calls on the Commission to give serious consideration to the recent report by the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development, which proposes banding of tunnels according to their level of
safety for the transportation of dangerous substances;

7.
Considers that the accident in the Gotthard tunnel and the ensuing traffic congestion have again
underlined the need for the development of an integrated transport policy for the entire Alpine region;
recalls its request of 5 September 2001 for the Commission to initiate a plan of action in this area;

Calls for the implementation of specific and more restrictive measures for vehicles transporting haz-

8.
ardous, or potentially hazardous, materials;

9.
Takes the view that strict controls on maximum driving times are another way of achieving road
safety; calls on the Council and Commission to bring the conciliation on working time to a prompt and
positive conclusion, and asks the Member States for rapid implementation and control;

10.
Considers that the circumstances surrounding the Gotthard accident have underlined the import-
ance of the Commission’s proposal to establish a uniform driver attestation; calls on Member States to
make every effort to ensure that, once adopted, the proposed regulation is properly enforced, in order to
ensure a level playing field throughout the single market in heavy goods transport in terms of employment
of drivers of heavy goods vehicles;

Supports the approach of sustainable freight transport, as provided for in the Protocol on the
11.
Implementation of the Alpine Convention in the field of Transport (‘Transport Protocol’) and the agree-
ment between Switzerland and the EU, underlining that this is a good basis for the development of an
environmentally sustainable transport policy throughout the sensitive transalpine area;

Calls on the Commission and the Member States to give priority to measures ensuring safety in all
12.
tunnels which link the north and the south of Europe (Alps and Pyrenees) with the aim of re-establishing
mobility of persons and goods as soon as possible;

Calls on the Commission and the Council to present without delay an efficient and integrated
13.
spatial planning proposal for Europe, linked with the development of the European Transport Networks
and with regional and environmental policy;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the govern-

14.
ments and parliaments of the Member States and of Switzerland.

16. Human rights: Massacre of 200 people in Nigeria

B5-0711, 0712, 0713, 0720, 0726, 0732 and 0735/2001

European Parliament resolution the human rights situation in Nigeria

The European Parliament,

9 having regard to its resolution of 15 February 2001 on human rights in Nigeria (1),

9 having regard to the meeting on 5 November 2001 between Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo

and the Governors of the Benue, Taraba, Nassarawa and Plateau States,

(1) OJ C 276, 1.10.2001, p. 284.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.6.2002

Thursday 15 November 2001

9 having regard to the meeting held in Abuja on 11 November 2001 between Nigeria’s President Oluse-
gun Obasanjo and political, traditional and opinion leaders from the Benue, Taraba, Nassarawa and
Plateau States,

9 having regard to efforts by civil society groups and, in particular, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF)
to broker peace between the warring Tiv and Jukun communities in Benue and Taraba States at a
meeting on 15 November 2001,

9 having regard to the resolution on West Africa adopted by the ACP-EU Assembly on 1 November

2001 in Brussels,

A. whereas, between 22 and 24 October 2001, Nigerian soldiers drove into seven villages in Benue,
a state in central Nigeria, and for three days ran amok, blowing up houses, burning shops and killing
over 200 civilians,

B. whereas this tragic loss of human life was in apparent retaliation for the abduction and killing of

19 Nigerian soldiers by a Tiv militia on 10 October 2001,

C. whereas, among the Tivs, there is a strong suspicion that elements in the military responsible for the

attacks between 22 and 24 October 2001 were backing the Jukuns,

D. whereas Benue state legislators described the attacks as a ‘gruesome act of ethnic cleansing against the

Tivs’,

E. whereas thousands of Nigerians are now internally displaced and are receiving humanitarian assistance
in refugee camps from the Nigerian Red Cross and the UK Department for International Development,

F. whereas demonstrations against the massacres have led to a further 13 deaths,

G. whereas similar incidents took place in the town of Odi in November 1999 without any action being

taken against those involved,

H. whereas Nigeria 9 Africa’s most populous country with more than 250 ethnic groups 9 has been
riven by ethnic, religious and political tensions which have killed thousands since the 1999 elections
that ended 15 years of military rule and repression,

I. whereas years of military dictatorship have allowed a feeling of impunity to develop within the federal
army, despite remarkable efforts made by the new democratically elected government for national
cohesion,

J. whereas on 12 November 2001 the Nigerian Government set up a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to

investigate ethnic conflict between Jukuns and Tivs in the central Benue State,

K. whereas on 31 October 2001 President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria established a 14-member
National Security Commission which is mandated to investigate causes of conflict in the country and
recommend solutions within 90 days,

L. whereas neither the European Union nor the United Nations have taken note in resolutions of this
increase in ethnic conflict within Nigeria despite reports of more violence in the past few days,

M. whereas the ‘Sharia’ laws applied by fundamentalists in a growing number of departments of Nigeria
have very serious consequences for civil liberties and human rights and for the peace between differ-
ent ethnic groups,

N. deeply concerned by the northern Nigerian Islamic court decision that sentenced a woman to death by

stoning after finding her guilty of adultery, while the male adulterer was acquitted,

13.6.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 140 E/585

Thursday 15 November 2001

Condemns the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Benue by elements of the Nigerian army and

1.
deplores the human suffering caused by ongoing conflicts in this country;

2.
Calls on the Nigerian authorities to conduct a rapid, impartial and effective investigation into these
incidents and to restore international confidence in Nigeria’s democracy and prevent further massacres by
the military;

3.
Notes that Nigeria’s Vice-President Atiku Abubakar described the massacre in Benue as ‘most repre-
hensible and most regrettable’ and that President Olusegun Obasanjo warned ‘these disturbances have
threatened the core values that bind us together as a civilised nation’;

4.
Draws attention to President Olusegun Obasanjo’s move to establish a 14-member National Security
Commission to investigate the causes of the continued ethnic and religious conflicts in Nigeria and awaits
the Commission’s findings;

Notes the Nigerian Lower Chamber’s vote to investigate the massacre of hundreds of civilians and its

5.
demand for a judicial inquiry;

6.
Urges the Nigerian Government to restore a climate of confidence between the communities, in
accordance with the country’s constitution, and to support efforts by civil society and groups like the
ACF to broker peace between the warring Tiv and Jukun communities;

Condemns all forms of religious intolerance and, in particular, the setting on fire of several mosques,
7.
expresses its concern that fundamentalist interpretation and implementation of the Sharia Law in some
Nigerian states may be contrary to respect for basic human rights and calls on the Federal Government of
Nigeria to ensure full respect for the constitution and the rule of law;

Condemns in particular the northern Nigerian Islamic court’s selective justice that sentenced Ms Safiya
8.
Hussaini-Tungar-Tudu to death by stoning after finding her guilty of adultery, while the male adulterer was
acquitted;

Urges the Commission and Member States to provide humanitarian assistance to the internally dis-

9.
placed people living in Nigeria’s refugee camps;

10.
Considers that the Nigerian army is ill-suited to restoring civil order and urges the Commission and
Member States to help provide technical assistance to train the Nigerian police to cope with communal
conflict and enable it to deal with these specific conflicts with due respect for the rule of law;

11.
Calls on the European Union to improve the dialogue with Nigeria, with a view to strengthening
the existing processes in Nigeria towards the consolidation of democracy, social and economic justice and
respect for human rights and religious freedoms;

12.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Co-Presidents
of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the African Union, and the government and parliament of
Nigeria.

17. Disasters: Effects of hurricane ‘Michelle’ in Nicaragua, Cuba and Honduras

B5-0714, 0721, 0727, 0733 and 0738/2001

European Parliament resolution on the impact of Hurricane ‘Michelle’ on Central America

The European Parliament,

9 having regard to its previous resolutions on the natural disasters that have hit Central America, and in
particular its resolution of 19 November 1998 on the situation in Central America and action by the
European Union (1),

9 having regard to Regional Programme for the Reconstruction of Central America,

(1) OJ C 379, 7.12.1998, p. 272.