Amnesty International has submitted a legal petition to the Pre-Trial Judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on behalf of several victims’ networks. The petition urges the ICC to address the Prosecutor’s unexplained delay in initiating an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Nigeria.
In December 2020, the ICC Prosecutor confirmed that the criteria for investigating atrocities in Nigeria’s north-east, including the conflict between Boko Haram and the Nigerian Army, had been met. Despite this conclusion, the expected next step of requesting authorization from the pre-trial judges to initiate an investigation has yet to occur, even after four years.
Amnesty International’s Nigeria Director, Isa Sanusi, underscores the urgency of addressing this delay, emphasizing the need for justice for victims and their families.
“Victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Nigeria are as entitled to justice as victims of crimes under international law elsewhere.
“They have already waited too long. Nigeria should not be forgotten by the International Criminal Court.”, Sanusi said.
“Amnesty International has called for an ICC investigation in Nigeria for years. The Office of the Prosecutor continues to delay, despite its clear legal obligation and its promise to open an investigation.
“We urge the ICC judges to exercise their oversight power to ensure the Prosecutor acts in conformity with the Rome Statute’s provisions.”, he added.
Sanusi asked, “The Prosecutor has also failed to justify the deprioritisation of the Nigeria situation, leaving victims and survivors of the conflict waiting with no explanation, nor any certainty, about the Prosecutor’s intended next steps. When is it going to be Nigeria’s turn?”
The global human rights advocacy organisation argued that the Office of the Prosecutor is failing in its legal duty under article 15(3) of the Rome Statute to request the authorization of the opening of the investigation in Nigeria.
The organisation also described how the prosecutor had created an unprecedented situation in which Nigeria is now neither a preliminary examination nor an investigation, leaving it in legal ‘limbo’ between these two stages of the ICC judicial process.
It stated that in doing so, the prosecutor has bypassed due process and he has put victims’ rights to truth, justice and reparations on indefinite hold.
The petition noted, “As the ICC’s member states commence their annual Assembly session, we call on them to recognise that all ICC situations, including in Nigeria, must receive the same standard of treatment and attention as others before the Court.”
Amnesty International filed the petition on behalf of thousands of victims from networks in north-east Nigeria, including the Jire Dole Mothers and Knifar Movement. It was drafted with significant legal support from UpRights.
Since 2009, Northeast Nigeria has been plagued by severe crimes committed by both Boko Haram and the Nigerian military.
Boko Haram has killed thousands of civilians, attacked schools, and abducted women, children, and girls, many of whom have been used as child soldiers or sex slaves.
The Nigerian military has also committed numerous atrocities, including extrajudicial killings, disappearances, mass arrests, and torture, leading to thousands of deaths in custody. These crimes continue to this day.
In November 2010, the ICC’s first Prosecutor, Ocampo, opened a preliminary examination into the situation in Nigeria.
Ten years later, in December 2020, ICC Prosecutor Bensouda concluded that Boko Haram and the Nigerian military had committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, and that the Nigerian government had failed to genuinely investigate or prosecute these crimes.
Despite this conclusion, no tangible progress has been made.
Credit: Saharareporters
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