Calls for the full implementation of the Anti-Torture Act reverberated recently at a stakeholders’ roundtable on human rights in Enugu, DAMIAN DURUIHEOMA reports.
The problem of human rights abuse is a systemic one in the country and this was the focus at a recent one-day roundtable in Enugu.
The more-than 30 participants at the event examined various human rights abuses and the need for implementation of the Anti-Torture Act 2017 in various security formations in the state.
The event, geared at creating awareness of the need for effective implementation of the Anti-Torture Act, was organised by Avocats Sans Frontieres France (Lawyers without borders), a French organisation focused on protecting and promoting human rights.
Carmelite Prisoners Interest Organisation (CAPIO), French Development Agency (AFD) and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) provided support.
The roundtable attracted stakeholders from the core criminal justice sector, inclusive of Judiciary, Ministry of Justice and Office of the Attorney-General, security agencies, including the police, DSS, army, NDLEA and the Correctional Service, as well as the civil society and the media to put heads together and discussed how to promote human rights.
The gathering was meant to work towards promoting accountability with regards to issues of torture, extra-judicial killings and arbitrary detentions especially by law enforcement agencies by building capacity of participants in the one-day workshop to create awareness of the Anti-Torture Act 2017.
Anti-Torture Act
The Anti-Torture Act prohibits the acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment; and prescribes penalties for such acts and for related matters which include systematic beatings, head-banging, punching, kicking, striking with rifle butts and jumping on the stomach.
According to the act, “Torture is deemed committed when an act by which pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person to (a) obtain information or confession from him or a third person; (b) punish him for an act he or a third person has committed or suspected of having committed; or (c) intimidate or coerce him or third person for any reason based on discrimination of any kind.” Section 7(1) of the Act states that, “A person who participates in the infliction of torture or who is present during the commission of the act is liable as the principal; (2) a superior military, police or law enforcement officer or senior government official who issues an order to a lower ranking personnel to torture a victim for whatever purpose is equally liable as the principal (4) the immediate commanding officer of the unit concerned of the security or law enforcement agencies is held liable as an accessory to the crime for any act or omission or negligence on his part that may have led to the commission of torture by his subordinates.”
While Section 3 of the act stresses that there should be no justification for torture, Section 4 allows a person alleging that torture has been committed, whether the person is the victim of the offence or not, a right to complain to the police, National Human Rights Commission or any other relevant institution or body having jurisdiction over the offence. It provides that the victim and complainant must be protected.
However, the enactment of this act seems not to have done anything to mitigate the problems as torture, illegal detentions and extra-judicial killings are still being perpetrated by most security operatives all over the country.
While interventions by participants on challenges and obstacles militating against the promotion of human rights in Enugu State were identified, various security agencies also gave a huge assurance that when issues of torture, extra-judicial killings and arbitrary detentions in their various agencies are reported, they will take action.
There were also assurances of collaboration from other organisations like the media and the civil society to ensure that victims do not go without a redress.
In a welcome address, the Head of ASF France, Angela Uwandu, noted that human right is for every citizen including the security agents.
She said: “We’ve been making efforts that led to the anti-torture act. So, this workshop is important for us to ensure the implementation of that act.
“In carrying out their responsibility, the security operatives must ensure they respect the rights of individuals.
“If people are arrested, have them tried.Allowing someone to be in prison for 10 years, makes mockery of the criminal justice system. We need to ensure accountability from those perpetrating human rights violations; those who go in excess of power given to them to torture.
“For those who are found liable, we want to see prosecution. The media and the civil society should rise up to this responsibility.
“The endsars protests last year showed the seriousness of the issue at hand.
“We will like to see agencies holding their own to accounts. That helps to dispel speculations that the police hierarchy is supporting the illegal actions”.
Uwandu, who disclosed that the organisation is providing free legal assistance to victims, added that through its efforts so far, “We’ve had about six judgments in Lagos alone on arbitrary detention.
“On this project, we’re also working with lawyers and we’re providing free legal services to victims of torture, persons whose rights have been violated, those who have been killed extra judicially and supporting their families to ensure that justice is served.
“So, we expect places like Enugu, Kaduna, others to quicken steps like Lagos to push for implementation because most of the victims spent nothing less than 10 years in detention over issues that had no connections with them. So, out of the six cases, five were in favour of victims”
In his presentation, head of Carmelite Prisoners Interest Organisation (CAPIO), Rev. Fr. Ambrose Ekeroku described as disheartening the number of human beings overflowing in various police cells and correctional centres in Enugu State and other parts of the country.
Ekeroku expressed worry over the continued extrajudicial killings going on across the country, calling on security operatives to learn from the endsars protests experience.
The cleric said: “We should as a country follow due process and rule of law because we’re a country governed by law. There’s need to respect people’s dignity
“Police has a vibrant internal mechanism such as police complaint response unit to deal with errant officers. But the outcome of their investigation is never made public”.
He also advised government agencies criminal justice system to stop the usual blame game amongst them,
The priest used the opportunity to advise citizens to make more effort to know their right because, according to him, “the inability of the citizenry to know their right is making some individuals take advantage of that to maltreat them”.
While the Deputy Director Legal Services 82 Division of Nigerian Army, Lt Col. C. C. Ebom blamed most victims for not reporting abuse, he urged victims to always promptly report any of such abuses in his office as such reports “help us to deal with abuses. Others are ancilliaries such as location help us to locate and idenitify perpetrators”.
However, the coordinator of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Enugu State, Dr. Valentine Madubuko, expressed the frustration the staff of the commission faced in their attempt to do routine check-up on detention cells in the state.
According to him, the commission had a lot matters relating to rights abuse still pending in the state police command but were treated with levity.
Madubuko used the opportunity to narrate how officers of the Enugu State Police Command battered him for visiting the police command to assist detainees on illegal detention.
According to the NHRC coordinator, on one of the occasions when he and his staff visited the police to render assistance to detainees in illegal detention, officers in the command descended on him and his staff for daring to visit the place.
He said: “I have been beaten up before by the police in Enugu here because we went there to check on people on illegal detention and those suffering torture.
“We’re supposed to be visiting the cells periodically, but the police allow us to do periodic visits to their cells only when the IG gives approval. We’re finding it difficult to work with the police regarding identifying victims of illegal detentions and torture. We have a lot matters in the police but they’re treated with levity”.
While hailing the military, DSS and Correctional Service for cooperating with the commission, Madubuko also slammed the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) in the state for also frustrating them from stopping human right abuses in their facilities.
The moderator of the programme, Mr Joe Onyeabor idenitifed intimidation on the part of the citizens against fellow citizens and irresponsibility of lawyers employed in the state ministry of justice as major factors promoting torture and illegal detentions.
Onyeabor advised: “There’s need for civilians to stop using the police to intimidate their fellow citizens.
“It will interest you to know that five out of every 10 inmates in prison were put there by people who have vowed to ‘deal’ with their fellow citizens.
“On the other hand, lawyers in the ministry of justice handling such sensitive cases, most times do not take into account the fact that it is human beings that are suffering.
“So, for anyone to be employed as a lawyer in ministry of justice, that person should be made to spend at least one day in prison so that whenever they’re handling any case that borders on bail, they should hasten to do it having known the condition in the prison”
In their recommendation at the end of the programme, stakeholders called for the need for law enforcement and judiciary to implement the anti-torture act in their jurisdictions.
They equally called for improved engagements between the armed forces and the civilians at the community level through interventions like community outreach for the purpose of building trust, saying that it was such a mechanism that led to a DPO in Onitsha, Anambra State, CSP Garuba being protected by citizens during the endsars protests.
They also recommended that lawyers should be given free access to intervene at the earliest stage in respect of the Force order 20 which established the PDSS (Police Duty Solicitor Scheme).
While calling for efforts to be made to improve the welfare of the police officers to enable them function better, the stakeholders also stated that officers of security agencies must be well equipped in tackling evidence gathering.
They also called for the media to be used in a very productive way to spotlight human rights challenges, adding that more efforts should be made towards improving the awareness of the anti-torture act both by the public and the security agencies through Trainings and sensitization.
Other recommendations were:
- Efforts must be made to improve the welfare of the police officers to enable them function better
- The need to increase the allocation for security agencies to cater for needs like more personnel and improved welfare and rights of the officers
- The need for law enforcement and judiciary to implement the anti-torture act in their jurisdictions
- The judiciary should be noted proactive in the discharge of their duties
- The need for sensitisation on the availability of legal aid services of the government and CSOs
- The police should cooperate with CSOs to improve effectivity especially in the areas of mobilisation for arrests and investigations
- The law enforcement agencies should be more open to the visitations of the judiciary for regular monitoring and evaluations
- Security agencies should link up more with the media for increased awareness on how to reach out to them in the case of abuse by officers of security agencies
- The need to institutionalise the human rights and complaints response services of security agencies.
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