UN Anti-torture C’ttee Alleges FG Failed to Cooperate During Its Visit to Nigeria

•Says urgent measures needed to end torture, ill-treatment

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The United Nations Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) has regretted what it termed the refusal of Nigeria to cooperate during its recent visit to the West African country.

The UN subcommittee said it visited Nigeria for the second time from 8 to 19 September 2024 to assess the treatment of individuals in detention.

A statement from the organisation further stated it sought to know whether the country had strengthened its capacity to protect the human rights of people deprived of liberty, including through the proper functioning of a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM).

“The delegation regrets the lack of cooperation from Nigerian authorities, during and prior to the visit. We were confronted with a climate of hostility and faced access issues in several places of detention.

“ Receiving the SPT’s visit and allowing it to exercise its mandate without obstruction is an international obligation under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) which Nigeria ratified in 2009,” the head of the delegation, Shujune Muhammad, said.

The SPT delegation said it visited numerous places of deprivation of liberty, including detention facilities for men, women and children, police stations, criminal investigation departments, as well as facilities run by agencies combating drug and people trafficking, among others.

“The situation in most places of detention is abysmal. Nigeria must urgently take measures to prevent torture and ill-treatment, and to improve conditions of detention, especially in police stations and other similar facilities.

“Legal safeguards must be immediately implemented, and the current impunity of perpetrators for acts of torture must end,” she said.

The delegation said it also met with the Minister of Justice, parliamentarians, judges, prosecutors, and other relevant authorities, the Bar association, civil society organisations, and UN agencies.

“It has been 10 years since the first SPT visit, and Nigeria is yet to establish a functional national preventive mechanism. This unfortunately shows that the prevention of torture and ill-treatment is not taken seriously by the State party, and the horrific situation we have documented speaks to this.

“We urge authorities to urgently finalise the establishment of an independent functional preventive mechanism,” said Muhammad.

At the end of the visit, the delegation stated that it presented its confidential preliminary observations to the Government of Nigeria, highlighting its serious concern about the lack of commitment from authorities in preventing widespread torture, ill-treatment and in improving conditions of detention.

Following its visit, the subcommittee noted it will send Nigeria a confidential report containing its observations and recommendations and encouraged the state party to make it public, to facilitate implementation.

The SPT delegation included Aisha Shujune Muhammad (Maldives) Head of the delegation, Satyabhooshun Gupt Domah (Mauritius), Andrew Christoffel Nissen (South Africa), and Victor ZAHARIA (Moldova), accompanied by two Human Rights Officers from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The subcommittee on prevention of torture monitors states parties’ adherence to the Optional Protocol to the Convention against torture, which to date has been ratified by 94 countries.

The subcommittee is made up of 25 members who are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties.

It has the mandate to visit states that have ratified the optional protocol to the convention against torture, during the course of which it may visit any place where persons may be deprived of their liberty and assist those states in preventing torture and ill treatment.

The subcommittee communicates its observations and recommendations to states through confidential reports, which it encourages countries to make public.