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	Don’t Get Arrested in Nigeria by Stanley Ibe Open Society   April 2011   In 1990, Ernest N. was an 18-year-old living in Ngor-Okpala, Nigeria, with a bright future ahead of him. Then, one day, he was arrested by police and held in jail on suspicion of robbery. The problem was, the alleged victim of the robbery did not exist and there were no witnesses to it. The only facts the police had were Ernest’s statement denying the allegations of robbery. His case never went to trial. Instead, Ernest remained in detention for 18 years.   In 2008, Ernest was finally released following the intervention of lawyers from the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACON) and the non-governmental organization, Rights Enforcement & Public Law Centre (REPLACE).   While he was in detention, Ernest’s father and mother died. No one told him. When he came out in 2008, Ernest did not know how to get home. So much had changed while he was unjustly detained. The cruelest irony was that if Ernest had been convicted for the crime of robbery, the sentence would have been a fraction of the years he spent rotting in jail, waiting for a trial that would never happen.   Oliver M.’s experience was not much different. In 1985, the police in Owerri, in southeast Nigeria, arrested Oliver, then 19, on suspicion of murder. No trial ever took place, and, despite the allegation of such a serious crime, he was never charged before a competent court. Rather, he was left to sit in detention, waiting endlessly for his day in court. It never came. Twenty-one years later, in July 2006, Oliver finally regained his freedom as a broken 40-year-old.   Ernest’s and Oliver’s experiences are not isolated. In 2006, the Nigerian Prison Service reported that the average period of pre-trial detention in Nigeria was nearly four years. The population awaiting trial is large and growing. In June 2010, Nigeria’s Interior Minister, Emmanuel Iheanacho, a retired Navy Captain, reported that across the country over 30,000 persons out of the total prison population of nearly 46,000—over 65%—were being held in detention while awaiting trial.   Four factors sustain this state of affairs. First, many victims of lengthy pre-trial detention are poor and therefore unable to afford the three essential “b’s” of the criminal justice system—bribe, bail, and barrister.   Second, the allocation of responsibilities among law enforcement institutions is not coordinated. For example, even though most offences are state-created, states’ attorneys general do not have oversight of the police and the prisons. In practice, this means that the attorneys general, as chief law officers, cannot monitor the movement of suspects into and out of detention facilities within the state, and, therefore, cannot ensure compliance with the constitutionally guaranteed right to trial within a reasonable time.   Third, the law requires police to investigate complaints and allegations before arrest. Regrettably, the reverse is the case in Nigeria.   Finally, criminal procedure laws in most Nigerian states allow police the liberty to secure indefinite pre-trial detention orders from magistrate courts even in respect of charges—such as armed robbery and homicide—over which they do not have trial jurisdiction.   For many caught in the system and awaiting trial, early access to legal advice and representation would have made a difference. Recognizing this, the Open Society Justice Initiative, LACON and REPLACE pioneered a Police Duty Solicitors Scheme (PDSS) in 2004. The scheme, which is being implemented in six states—Imo, Edo, Ondo, Kaduna, Kebbi and Sokoto—places lawyers inside designated police stations on a 24-hour rotational basis to render legal advice and assistance to detainees. Under a Memorandum of Understanding between the Inspector-General of Police, LACON, REPLACE, and the Open Society Justice Initiative, the police has agreed to allow lawyers working under this scheme access to its cells.   The result of this experiment has been dramatic. In 2005, the program’s first full year, the scheme got 1255 people awaiting trial out of detention. The scheme also achieved notable reductions in duration of pre-trial detention in Ondo (30.47%), Imo (88.41%), Kaduna (86.26%) and Sokoto (60.97%).   In 2008 alone, 16 lawyers in these four states had access to 3,200 detainees and suspects, diverting or releasing 2,857 suspects from detention. On the average, each detainee spent seven days in jail—a striking figure, when you consider the national average is 46 months.   Increasing the number of participating lawyers and paralegals, as well as the number of participating police stations, could potentially eliminate the likelihood of a repeat of stories like those of Oliver M. and Ernest N.—both of whom were released after becoming clients of the scheme.   * Stanley Ibe is Associate Legal Officer, at the Open Society Justice Initiative. The Open Society Foundations work to improve the lives of the vulnerable people and to promote human rights, justice, and accountability. Visit the related web page
	UN Panel finds credible reports of war crimes during Sri Lanka conflict by UN News, Channel 4 & agencies   25 April 2011   UN Panel finds credible reports of war crimes during Sri Lanka conflict. (UN News)   The panel of experts set up to advise the UN Secretary-General on accountability issues with respect to the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka has found credible reports of war crimes committed by both the Sri Lankan Government and Tamil rebels and calls for genuine investigations into the allegations, according to a report made public today by the United Nations.   The report’s conclusions and recommendations, include its disturbing assessment that serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law were committed by both the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), some of which would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.   The panel found credible allegations that comprise five core categories of potential serious violations committed by the Government in the final stages of the conflict, including killing of civilians through widespread shelling and the denial of humanitarian assistance.   The credible allegations concerning the LTTE comprise six core categories of potential serious violations, including using civilians as a human buffer and killing civilians attempting to flee LTTE control.   Former spokesman for the UN in Sri Lanka, Gordon Weiss, says the UN report confirms mass crimes took place in Sri Lanka.   "This is going to make it very difficult for the UN not to take action," he said. "It"s going to make it very difficult for any member of the United Nations, and in particular, I"m thinking of India, China, Russia to obscure or obstruct a serious and credible international investigation into what happened in the tail end of this long civil war."   The United Nations human rights chief has urged further investigations into the conduct of the final stages of the conflict in Sri Lanka after the UN panel found there were credible reports that both Government forces and Tamil rebels had committed war crimes.   Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said she hoped that the “disturbing information” in the report “will shock the conscience of the international community into finally taking serious action.   “As the report itself says, addressing violations of international humanitarian or human rights law is not a matter of choice or policy; it is a duty under domestic and international law,” Ms. Pillay said.   “The eyewitness accounts and credible information contained in this report demand a full, impartial, independent and transparent investigation,” Ms. Pillay said. “Unless there is a sea change in the Government’s response, which has so far been one of total denial and blanket impunity, a full-fledged international inquiry will clearly be needed.”   The High Commissioner noted that the panel found that the Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission convened by the Sri Lankan Government was deeply flawed and did not satisfy the joint commitment of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Mr. Ban for an accountability process.   She urged the Government to implement a series of measures suggested by the panel, including: repealing the Emergency Regulations and modifying provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act; resolving outstanding cases of disappearances; and ensuring due process for the remaining LTTE detainees.   Ms. Pillay stressed that in the long term, “justice will be essential if there is to be true reconciliation after this terrible and divisive conflict.”   She added that she remains very concerned about the protection of witnesses and civil society activists, including journalists, in Sri Lanka, especially in the wake of “calls from certain elements for reprisals in light of the panel’s report.”   18 Apr 2011   Media outlets that have seen the report say it includes allegations that troops attacked Red Cross workers who were trying to pick up wounded civilians, and that the government knew the impact the shelling would have on the civilian population.   Gordon Weiss, who served as a senior United Nations spokesman on Sri Lanka during the civil war, says his experiences during those final months supports the panel"s finding that "grave crimes" were committed in the final months of the conflict.   "I have been saying since January last year that up to 40,000 people were killed during the latter stage of the war, and the panel have come out and said that indeed tens of thousands of people died during this phase," he told news agencies.   "Government forces for whatever reason shelled UN positions and also shelled dangerously close to International Red Cross positions, and importantly the report has said the government systematically shelled hospitals and medical points that were being used to treat civilians inside the siege zone."   Mr Weiss says the panel also found evidence that the Sri Lankan government deprived civilians inside the conflict zone of humanitarian aid. He says the report is equally damning of the actions of Tamil Tiger rebels.   "The Tamil Tigers held, essentially, hundreds of thousands of people hostage," he said. "As the siege intensified they refused to let people go, and as people tried to escape, they shot them," he said. "They were also guilty of the mass conscription of people... and were responsible for the deaths of thousands of teenagers who were forcibly conscripted."   The panel was set up in 2010 after the UN Secretary General failed to persuade Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to hold an independent inquiry into the final months of the ocnflict.   Mr Weiss says the panel was blocked from visiting the country by the government, but that it was able to interview civilians who had witnessed the war zone shellings and that its members also spoke to former soldiers. The report"s conclusion calls for a full international investigation into its findings.   That"s been dismissed by the Sri Lankan government. Mr Weiss says the government"s response is "utterly predictable".   He says the comprehensive nature of the panel"s report will make it difficult for permament members of the UN Security Council to ignore mounting pressure to launch an international judicial inquiry into the final months of the conflict. Mr Weiss says he believes such an investigation may eventually lead to a war crimes tribunal being established.   Human Rights Watch has estimated that tens of thousands of civilians were killed or injured in the final days of the conflict.   James Ross, the legal and policy director at Human Rights Watch, said the report looked at the governments response both during and after the conflict. "It also looked at the government"s response to the fighting, and looked at specifically the government"s promise that it would investigate what has happened, and really reached the conclusion that the government did not take real steps to address these atrocities at the end of the war," he said.   "For example, the panel said its findings "stand in sharp contrast to the position of the government which "continues to hold that it conducted a humanitarian rescue operation with a policy of zero civilian casualties". "And the panel found that in fact, "most civilian casualties in the final phases of the war were caused by government shelling"."   Mr Ross says it is hoped the report will go some way towards ensuring those responsible for committing atrocities are held to account.   April 2011 (Channel 4 News)   The UN is also criticised in the report for failing "to take actions that might have protected civilians." The panel says casualty figures collected by the UN should have been made public at the time.   Releasing the figures "would have strengthened the call for the protection of civilians while those events ...were unfolding" the panel concludes.   But conditions for aid agencies and UN officials on the ground were difficult. Weiss told Channel 4 News they were at the "hard edge of humanitarian work" and were prevented from reaching the area by the Sri Lankan government. There "no foreign observers there to observe what was happening", Weiss said.   In August 2009 Channel 4 News received a video showing naked, bound men being executed with a shot to the back of the head by men who appeared to be Sri Lankan soldiers. In January 2010, a UN investigation said the video "appeared authentic". Following pressure from human rights groups and western governments the UN setup a panel into the end of the war.   The UN panel also says that authorities "sought to intimidate and silence the media and other critics of the war through a variety of threats and actions, including the use of white vans to abduct and to make people disappear".   Yolanda Foster from Amnesty International told Channel 4 News "this report is a call to action" and that an international independent investigation should now be set up.   The UN report into the final six months of the 30-year conflict that ended in May 2009 found more than 330,000 people were trapped by the fighting as remnants of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were encircled by government forces.   It said the Sri Lankan troops "shelled on a large scale in three consecutive No Fire Zones, where it had encouraged the civilian population to concentrate … It shelled the United Nations hub, food distribution lines and near the Red Cross ships that were coming to pick up the wounded." 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