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HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS JOINS THREE SPECIAL RAPPORTEURS IN URGING NIGERIA NOT TO CARRY OUT DEATH SENTENCE

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01 May 1998




HR/98/32
1 May 1998

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, joins the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Nigeria, Soli Sorabjee, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, Param Cumaraswamy, and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Bacre Waly Ndiaye, in expressing deep concern at the sentencing to death in Nigeria of six defendants on charges of treason on 28 April 1998.

A total of 30 persons have been charged in connection with an alleged coup plot announced by the Government of Nigeria in December 1997. The ad hoc military tribunal which convicted and sentenced the individuals failed to meet regional and international standards protecting the defendant and ensuring fair trial. The tribunal is comprised of military officers operating outside of the normal judicial system, most of the evidence was heard in secret, and no right to appeal has been provided to the defendants.

To proceed with the execution of these individuals would violate international standards. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Nigeria is a party, explicitly states that capital sentences may only be pronounced after trials in which all guarantees of due process have been scrupulously observed. The 1984 Safeguards Guaranteeing Protection of the Rights of Those Facing the Death Penalty passed by the Economic and Social Council state that, "Capital punishment may be imposed only when the guilt of the person charged is based upon clear and convincing evidence leaving no room for an alternative explanation of the facts". Executions carried out after unfair trials clearly violate the universal right to life.

The High Commissioner joins the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Nigeria, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions in requesting the Government of Nigeria not to proceed with the executions of these individuals and to allow the convictions and sentences to be reviewed on appeal before a higher and independent court of law.

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