Human Rights: Nigeria

1
Human Rights Nigeria

• A Presentation by
• Amber Townsend

2
Military

• Military has a history of total disregard for
  human rights
• Noted for use of excessive force toward civilians
  

3
Government

• Government commits abuses towards citizens
• Elections are not judged correctly
• Politically related slayings not uncommon
• Judicial system
• No speedy/ fair trials
• Certain privacy rights violated in efforts to
  incriminate suspects.

4
Nigerian Penal Code

• Womens Rights
• Marital rape/violence permissable
• No equal rights in regards to property
  inheritance
• Often subjected to genital cutting
• Trafficked (along w/ children) to Europe

5
Nigerian Penal Code cont

• Punishments
• Many of the punishments permitted by the penal
  code are deemed cruel, inhuman, and degrading
• Stoning
• Flogging
• Amputations
• Caning

6
Reasoning Behind The Treatment

• The military has the power to utilize such harsh
  tactics under penal code because any type of
  activity displayed as potentially threatening to
  the military personnel must be immediately acted
  upon.

7
Can Will the current human rights situation
that exists in Nigeria ever show signs of
progression?
8
Works Cited

• Nigeria Country Reports on Human Rights
  Practices. 24 Feb. 2004. Bureau of Democracy,
  Human Rights, and Labor. 20 Nov. 2006
  www.state.gov.
• Agiri, Babatunde. The Concept and Practice of
  Individual Rights in Nigeria. American Studies
  International 29 (1991)55. Academic Search
  Premier. EBSCO.09 Nov. 2006.
• LeMelle, Gerald. The Future of Human Rights in
  Nigeria. New York Amsterdam News 2 (1998) 89.
  Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 09 Nov. 2006.