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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000945 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/W, INR/AA 
BAGHDAD FOR DMCCULLOUGH 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2019 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ICRC NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: ICRC SAYS MEDIA IS EXAGGERATING CIVILIAN 
CASUALTIES IN DELTA 
 
ABUJA 00000945  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Walter N.S. Pflaumer for reasons 1.4 
 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) On May 28, DATT, Marine Attache, and Poloff met with 
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) head of 
delegation in Nigeria Jacques Villettaz and Communications 
Director Anahita Kar to discuss their view of the 
humanitarian situation in the Niger Delta as a result of the 
Joint Task Force's (JTF) ongoing activities against 
militant/criminal camps.  The ICRC recently sent a team down 
to Delta State to investigate reports of large scale 
collateral damage and internally displaced people.  The ICRC 
also had access to other NGO reports as well, including those 
of the Nigerian Red Cross, Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), 
and the Stakeholders Democracy Network.  The ICRC team had 
full access to areas west of Warri, Delta State, and could 
confirm only six civilian dead, while the Nigerian Red Cross 
had been allowed access to all areas up to and including Tom 
Polo's Camp Five, now occupied by the JTF.  The Nigerian Red 
Cross team reportedly saw little evidence of violence against 
non-combatants, though only a few people -- all women -- came 
out of the bush to receive the aid they offered, with many 
apparently preferring the safety of the swamps to returning 
to village life, for the moment.  Their biggest concern, they 
said, was caring for the wounded, and there was indeed one 
confirmed report by MSF of JTF soldiers taking a wounded 
civilian out of one of their medical facilities for 
interrogation.  ICRC had also heard reports, at this point 
unconfirmed and presently considered unreliable rumors, that 
military trucks had dumped bodies in the swamps, whether they 
were those of civilians or militants was unknown.  DATT is 
scheduled to travel to Rivers and Delta States with other 
foreign defense attaches soon as part of a GON-sponsored 
visit.  We will likely get more information from that trip. 
 
¶2. (C) Both ICRC representatives said that the media appeared 
to have greatly overstated the actual numbers of civilian 
casualties and damage to civilian structures, and that "in 
praise of the JTF" they were "pleasantly surprised" at what 
appeared to be the true situation on the ground.  They said 
that some civilian casualties were inevitable, if 
militants/criminals did as Tom Polo reportedly did, bringing 
in large numbers of non-combatants to live in their camps. 
They attributed the inaccuracy in the press partially to an 
inherent bias toward non-governmental actors, a sort of 
"freedom fighter fancy," that Villettaz also said he saw 
during his tenure as ICRC rep in Afghanistan, where 
journalists wrote stories he considered unduly favorable to 
the Taliban.  The public relations sophistication of the 
Delta's armed gangs far exceeded that of the GON, and their 
ability to spin information often won them the day in the 
eyes of the international community.  The ICRC would like to 
believe, they said, that if it's true that the JTF is doing a 
better job of adhering to international humanitarian law 
(IHL), it's at least partially due to the greater access the 
ICRC has had to the Nigerian armed forces over the past year, 
providing in-depth IHL education to all levels of personnel. 
(Note: DAO contacts report that the JTF is indeed taking IHL 
seriously, to the point of immediately disciplining and even 
removing from command those personnel deemed to have been 
insufficiently attentive to human rights.  End note.) 
 
¶3. (C) Comment: Post continues to receive mixed reports of 
what is really happening, ICRC and media beliefs aside.  On 
the one hand, it does appear that the JTF is taking a 
different approach toward the rights of non-combatants than 
it has in the past; on the other we have reason to believe 
that some villages have been hard-hit and the number of 
civilian dead is likely significantly higher than the ICRC 
believes -- it may take some time to get the full picture, if 
we ever get it at all.  For the moment, it appears that 
perhaps a combination of ICRC IHL courses and the training 
Nigerian soldiers are receiving from their foreign 
counterparts might indeed be producing a JTF campaign that 
leaves behind a lower civilian body count.  They may also be 
realizing the value of a more professional military that 
provides less fodder for the likes of reputed MEND spokesman 
 
ABUJA 00000945  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Jomo Gbomo and others, allegedly speaking for the armed gangs 
and/or militants, who have handily won the battle in the 
Nigerian and international press up until now.  End comment. 
 
¶4. (U) This cable was coordinated with Consulate Lagos. 
SANDERS