VZCZCXRO0916
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHUJA #1838/01 1981604
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171604Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6494
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 4616
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 001838 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA HUMAN RIGHTS ROUNDUP FOR JUNE 2006 
 
REF: A. ABUJA 01547 
 
     ¶B. ABUJA 01660 
     ¶C. ABUJA 01653 
     ¶D. ABUJA 01355 
     ¶E. LAGOS 00874 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY.  To augment the required annual reporting, 
Embassy Abuja will be sending regular round-up cables 
detailing human rights incidents in Nigeria.  This cable 
mimics the format of the Annual Report on Human Rights and a 
section at the end will discuss issues to which we will be 
paying particular attention.  We will continue to send cables 
about individual events as needed.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
RESPECT FOR THE INTEGRITY OF THE PERSON, INCLUDING FREEDOM 
FROM: 
 
 
¶2.  Arbitrary and Unlawful Deprivation of Life.  Crime 
statistics from the local police say that in the first week 
of June, 41 robbers were arrested and there were 8 "dead 
robbers."  Post has no information on how these suspects 
died, and statistics were not given for other weeks. 
 
¶3.  Arbitrary and Unlawful Deprivation of Life.  Police 
policy requires that the police must issue a written report 
before a victim of a gunshot wound can be treated in 
hospital.  This level of delay could have fatal consequences 
for the victim.  Media reports speculate that sometimes 
reports are delayed due to police involvement in a shooting. 
Post cannot independently confirm any individual cases in 
which this has happened, but we will continue to monitor the 
situation and report any new developments. 
 
¶4.  Arbitrary and Unlawful Deprivation of Life.  Media 
reports from Anambra State say that police conducted a major 
raid on MASSOB, the Movement for the Actualization of the 
Sovereign State of Biafra.  69 people were arrested and 2 
were killed.  Afterwards, the local police chief told the 
media he believed the earlier kidnappings of 4 of his 
officers were tied to MASSOB, thus raising the possibility 
the raid was in revenge. 
 
¶5.  Arbitrary and Unlawful Deprivation of Life.  Media 
reports indicate Juth Akpowbo was arrested in Kano State 
after being accused of robbing the staff quarters of Bayero 
University.  Two weeks later, he died in hospital after 
apparently never having been released from custody. 
 
¶6.  Arbitrary Arrest or Detention.  A U.S. citizen 
photojournalist was arrested in Bayelsa State after taking 
pictures of an oil installation.  Established government 
policy prohibits photographing official installations. The 
photographer was detained by State Security for 3 days before 
being released without charges. 
 
 
RESPECT FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES, INCLUDING: 
 
 
¶7.  Freedom of Speech and Press.  As post reported in septel 
(Ref A and B), agents of the State Security Service (SSS) 
raided the offices of Africa Independent Television (AIT) on 
June 14 and arrested presenter Gbenga Mike Aruleba.  The 
previous day, he had read on air a report critical of the 
government.  He was released the next day on bail, but later 
re-arrested along with journalist Rotimi Durojaiye.  The 
arrests were due to a story Aruleba aired and that Durojaiye 
wrote saying President Obasanjo had purchased a second hand 
airplane after having received funds to buy a new plane. 
Both journalists were released on bail June 29, but face 
another hearing July 25.  They are being charged with 
sedition. 
 
¶8.  Freedom of Speech and Press.  In late March, Freedom 
Radio in Kano was restricted by the GON and not allowed to 
broadcast each day from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.-- prime hours for 
revenue generation.  While the ban only lasted a few days, it 
came in response to Freedom Radio's airing of live call-in 
shows where many people were openly critical of the 
government. 
 
¶9.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.  The 
Nigerian legislature is currently considering an "anti-gay 
marriage" bill.  However, homosexual acts are already illegal 
in Nigeria.  Section 7 of the new bill would ban the 
"registration of gay Clubs, Societies, and organizations" and 
would penalize anyone who does not turn in other people 
involved in advocacy of gay issues.  Post will continue to 
 
ABUJA 00001838  002 OF 003 
 
 
monitor the progress of this legislation. 
 
¶10.  Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association.  Embassy 
contacts report that the Public Order Act has been used to 
break up political gatherings critical of the government. 
One contact, a member of the federal House of 
Representatives, says he was at an anti-third term rally this 
spring which was broken up under writ of this act. 
 
¶11.  Freedom of Religion.  An embassy contact in the 
Christian community from Kaduna state aired complaints 
against the implementation of sharia law in his state.  The 
resources of the state are being used to administer justice 
in sharia courts, but people who are not Muslim are excluded 
from receiving employment or otherwise participating in these 
courts.  This contact's problem with sharia law was not the 
severity of its punishments but that in sharia courts state 
resources are being used to the benefit of only one faith 
group.  Authorities respond that traditional courts (distinct 
from the normal civil courts) could hear cases from other 
religious groups.  While these courts might be helpful to 
traditional religious groups, they are not useful to 
Nigeria's large Christian population. 
 
¶12.  Freedom of Religion.  In theory, justice from sharia 
courts is only applied to Muslims who choose to participate 
in those courts.  However, the same Embassy contact alleges 
that the cases of people who are not Muslim are being brought 
before Sharia courts.  Additionally, sharia courts threaten 
severe punishment against those who leave Islam, thus 
limiting the ability of a Muslim to change his faith or for 
someone of another faith to practice outreach to Muslim 
communities. 
 
 
RESPECT FOR POLITICAL RIGHTS: THE RIGHT OF CITIZENS TO CHANGE 
THEIR GOVERNMENT 
 
 
¶13.  Elections and Political Participation.  IFES, an 
international democracy building NGO, held a series of 
election conferences which concluded this month (Ref C). 
They pointed out many challenges Nigeria faces in preparing 
for next year's elections.  One difficult issue is that the 
tribunals set up to hear election disputes do not have the 
power to implement their decisions.  Another problem is a 
lack of trust among the polity which increases the likelihood 
someone will challenge the elections as unfair.  The 
conference series also pointed to violence surrounding the 
2003 elections and said the problem would likely recur in 
2007 without important legal changes. 
 
¶14.  Government Corruption and Transparency.  Media reports 
indicate that on June 6, President Obasanjo sent a report to 
the House of Representatives explaining why he withdrew 2.1 
billion naira (16.4 million USD) from a petroleum account in 
support of the national census in March.  Accusations 
persisted in the media for the rest of the month that proper 
channels were not followed for the withdrawal, and it appears 
the money was poorly accounted for.  His explanation was that 
the money was needed on an emergency basis when the census 
had to be extended.  The investigation continues. 
 
 
GOVERNMENT ATTITUDES REGARDING INTERNATIONAL AND 
NONGOVERNMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN 
RIGHTS 
 
 
¶15.  A representative of an international NGO concerned with 
democracy promotion had to leave the country on an emergency 
basis and return to the U.S. this month due to an issue with 
the registration of his group.  The group continues to 
operate, and the embassy is investigating to determine 
exactly what happened. 
 
 
DISCRIMINATION, SOCIETAL ABUSES, AND TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS 
 
 
¶16.  Women.  An NGO contact says that Nigerians describe 
widowhood practices, particularly in the South of the 
country, as "obnoxious."  As an example, she mentioned that 
inheritance laws vary from state to state and frequently 
limit women's ability to inherit property when their husbands 
die.  This results in some widows having no means of 
financially supporting themselves.  An embassy contact who is 
a member of the House of Representatives indicated he has 
introduced a bill trying to alleviate the problem, but that 
it has been swamped underneath what legislative leaders 
 
ABUJA 00001838  003 OF 003 
 
 
believe to be more pressing issues. 
 
¶17.  Trafficking in Persons.  The TIP report released this 
month says that the national anti-trafficking agency, NAPTIP, 
is making valiant efforts to combat trafficking in Nigeria. 
However, a difficult operational environment hampers their 
efforts. Their headquarters was recently broken into by a 
group of between 20-40 men. The assailants tied up 2 guards. 
The embassy has received conflicting reports as to whether 
other staff were tied up, although no staff were seriously 
injured.  PolOffs saw two heavily damaged file cabinets which 
had been broken into.  The director of NAPTIP says that 
nothing was missing, thus causing speculation that the 
robbers did not find what they were looking for. 
Additionally, the home of a staff member was broken in to. 
Police have not developed any leads. 
 
¶18.  National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities.  Human Rights Watch 
issued a report this spring, confirmed by contacts of PolOff, 
pointing out problems caused by discrimination against 
Nigerians not considered to be "native" to the region or city 
in which they reside.  (Note:  Nigerians are considered to be 
"indigenes" or natives of the home of their paternal 
relatives. End note.)  As a result, people living in parts of 
the country which are not their "native" lands frequently 
experience discrimination from civil authorities. 
 
 
WORKER RIGHTS 
 
 
¶19.  The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively.  NITEL, 
the national telephone company, went on strike the first week 
of June (Ref D and E).  This caused all land line telephones 
in the country to stop working for several days.  The strike 
began because workers had not been paid in several months. 
At least 4 representatives of the National Association of 
Telecommunications Employees were arrested, although there 
are no charges known to be pending against anyone.  The 
strike was eventually settled with no further reprisals. 
 
¶20.  Acceptable Conditions of Work.  As reported in the 
previous item, the NITEL workers had not been paid since 
February 2006.  The money which was eventually released to 
them did not meet the entire amount of their back wages and 
benefits. 
 
 
TRENDS TO WATCH 
 
 
¶21.  Preparations for next year's elections are a central 
concern of the Embassy and will remain a focus of our human 
rights reporting.  We believe that other elements of human 
rights -- notably including press freedom -- are also an 
important indication of the government's plans for the 2007 
election.  We will continue monitoring the legislative 
progress of the anti-gay marriage bill and the sedition case 
against Aruleba and Durojaiye. 
FUREY