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Off
the Presses
Dismissing accountability: Nigerian government sacks Human Rights Head
Source:
Google /images |
In
many countries across the Commonwealth, National Human
Rights Commissions play an integral role in the external
oversight of the police. In mid-June, Nigerian President
Obasanjo struck a blow against police accountability
and human rights generally when he sacked the head of
the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission, Bukhari
Bello, for daring to fulfil the mandate of his office
- frank, open and honest discussion of the human rights
dilemmas facing Nigeria, Africa and the international
community. Bello left his office for the last time on
a Tuesday in early July; by the next morning ten uniformed
police officers and four plain clothes officers were
waiting at the Commission to make sure that he would
not be able to enter the office that is rightfully his.
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The Nigerian government has been open in explaining its reasons for the dismissal - Bello did not toe their line. The government has not disputed that Bello acted within the scope of his responsibilities as Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Commission and on instruction from the statutory council that is in place to guide the Commission. The President sacked Bello by letter, via the Justice Minister. The letter outlined the reasons for the termination of Bello's appointment, saying that the President was unhappy that Bello had publicly criticised Nigeria's internal security agencies for harassing and intimidating journalists, that he had openly condemned the recent practice of African Presidents of amending national constitutions to allow them to stay on as leaders after their legitimate term had come to an end (a tactic President Obasanjo himself recently attempted, but failed, to use) and for making a statement echoing the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights that the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba is incompatible with the international obligations of the United States of America and should be closed.
| National Human Rights Institutions play an important police oversight role by investigating complaints against the police as part of their general mandate to promote and protect human rights. Some human rights institutions, including the bodies in Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Malaysia, have specific powers relating to the police, such as the right to visit and report on places of detention. The institutions are a way of making the police more transparent, building public confidence, involving outsiders, allaying fear of bias, assuring impartiality of investigation, streamlining complaint processes, reducing misconduct, reforming internal culture and ensuring better police performance. |
Source:
Google /images |
Source:
Google /images |
The
Nigerian National Human Rights Commission was set up
in 1995 after the World Conference on Human Rights,
where all United Nations members were urged to put in
place national institutions to promote, protect and
advance human rights in their countries and regions.
It was created by a military decree and was designed
to counter international criticism of continued military
rule in Nigeria and the repressive policies of the regime.
A new constitution that came into effect in 1999 along
with the transition to civilian rule did not entrench
the Human Rights Commission, as international best practice
demands, and the Commission continues to operate under
the military decree, which is deemed to be an act of
parliament under the transitional provisions of the
Constitution. Under the decree, the President appoints
Commissioners and the Executive Secretary (who is also
the CEO) on the advice of the Attorney General. The
President also has the power to terminate any appointment.
This system makes a mockery of any claims to independence.
The decree sets out a five year term for the Executive
Secretary.
Bello
was appointed for a second term as Executive Secretary
in 2005 - an appointment that should run through until
2010. Neither the President or the Justice Minister
talked to or consulted with Commission's governing council
before Bello was sacked. After the Chair of the Commission,
the Honourable Justice F. Igu, heard that Bello's appointment
had been terminated, he went to the Justice Minister
to protest that the action interfered with the independence
of the Commission and to argue that the reasons given
for the termination were nothing more than Bello doing
his job, on the instructions of the Commission's governing
Council.
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The
President's actions are unacceptable and have been condemned
nationally, regionally and internationally. His actions
are a clear breach of the Paris Principles, the internationally
accepted guidelines for national human rights institutions,
as well as the African Charter on Human and Peoples'
Rights, which is law in Nigeria. The Paris Principles
sets out that a Commissioner should be appointed under
legislation, with a specific, secure tenure. In a particularly
farcical note, Nigeria was recently appointed to the
new United Nations Human Rights Council, pledging as
a precondition to appointment "its determination and
commitment to continue to promote and protect human
rights at home by strengthening and actively supporting
the work of the National Human Rights Commission." Sacking
the head of a Commission because he did his job does
not strengthen or support; it weakens and undermines.
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Source:
Google /images
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National
human rights institutions can be a key component of a web
of external oversight mechanisms that monitor a democratic,
accountable and transparent police service. However, the institution
must be empowered, independent and free from illegitimate
political interference - much like the police themselves.
Nigeria has made huge strides towards true, institutionalised
democracy over the last few years. After decades of military
rule, the new millennium has seen civilian government. The
National Assembly's refusal earlier this year to allow President
Obasanjo to push through illegitimate constitutional reform
that would allow him to stay in power beyond the elections
scheduled for 2007 is a sign of functional, accountable and
democratic governance. Bello's sacking is not such a sign
- it is a throwback to the kind of harsh, dictatorial rule
that Nigeria must leave to its history books. The police presence
at Bello's office the day after his term ended signals the
close relationship between the police and the government;
this closeness bears the hallmarks of political interference
into policing duties. Bello must be reinstated. Human Rights
Commissioners must be granted secure tenure. The Commission
must be enshrined in Nigeria's Constitution. Only then will
the promise of Nigeria's fledgling human rights based democracy
become a reality, and the police provided with the accountable
and transparent system of external oversight it deserves.
Daniel
Woods
Access to Justice
CHRI
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