Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has petitioned
\nthe Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights
\nrequesting \u201cthe urgent intervention of the Bureau of the Commission to end
\nthe ongoing human rights violations of naturalized Nigerians, refugees and
\nasylum seekers forcibly returned to their country by the Nigerian
\nauthorities.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organization urged the Chairperson and Bureau of the Commission \u201cto
\nurgently hold an extra-ordinary session of the African Commission to
\naddress the illegal and unfair return of 51 Cameroon refugees, asylum
\nseekers and naturalized Nigerians, and the continuing violations of the
\nrights of the returnees by the government of Cameroon.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organization also urged the Commission to \u201cspeak out strongly and
\ncondemn the unfair treatment of the refugees, asylum seekers and
\nnaturalized Nigerians by the government of Cameroon, and request the
\ngovernment to immediately release them from unlawful detention.\u201d<\/p>\n
The petition dated 2 February 2018 and signed by SERAP deputy director
\nTimothy Adewale stated that, \u201cInternational law is very clear on the fact
\nthat individuals, including asylum seekers, even if they have entered the
\ncountry illegally, are entitled to enjoy human rights. SERAP is seriously
\nconcerned that forced return of naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum
\nseekers is both legally and morally wrong, and would set a bad precedent
\nfor the rest of the sub-region.\u201d<\/p>\n
The organization said that, \u201cNaturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum
\nseekers came to Nigeria for protection and to escape the gross violations
\nof fundamental human rights in Cameroon. By returning them to Cameroon,
\nNigerian authorities have failed to provide reasonable opportunity to them
\nto establish their case through judicial review of the risk of
\npersecution, torture and other human rights abuses in Cameroon.\u201d<\/p>\n
The petition read in part: \u201cThe government of Cameroon is also reportedly
\nviolating the rights of returned naturalized Nigerians, refugees and
\nasylum seekers to personal liberty, freedom of movement (including the
\nright to leave their country), fair trials, freedom of expression and
\ndepriving them of their liberty to be treated with humanity and respect
\nfor the inherent dignity of the human person. The situation in Cameroon is
\ncharacterized by widespread and massive violations of human rights and
\nhumanitarian law with growing numbers of victims lacking access to an
\neffective remedy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCameroon\u2019s treatment of the returned naturalised Nigerians, refugees and
\nasylum seekers falls with the \u2018worst crimes\u2019 of the Rome Statute of the
\nInternational Criminal Court, which in article 7 defines crimes against
\nhumanity to mean acts such as deportation, imprisonment or other severe
\ndeprivation of liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international
\nlaw, torture and other similar acts that are committed as part of a
\nwidespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth Nigeria and Cameroon do not have any extradition treaty. We consider
\nthe forced return of Cameroon asylum seekers from Nigeria illegal and
\nunfair, as it failed to meet a high standard of procedural fairness and
\njustice. Both Nigeria and Cameroon have ratified the African Charter on
\nHuman and Peoples\u2019 Rights and United Nations Convention Relating to the
\nStatus of Refugees.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to our information, the Nigerian authorities illegally and
\nunfairly returned naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum seekers on
\nFriday, January 26, 2018. The returnees are mostly leaders of the people
\nof Southern Cameroon and who have been living in Nigeria for several
\nyears.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP argues that the government of Nigeria breaches its international
\nobligations including those requiring the government to ensure that
\nrefugees and asylum seekers are not returned to jurisdictions such as
\nCameroon, where they would face persecution and human rights violations,
\nsuch as torture and other ill-treatment. Nigeria is also bound by the
\nprinciple of non-refoulement, the obligation not to return a refugee to a
\ncountry where he is at risk of persecution.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSimilarly, both Nigeria and Cameroon are states parties to the UN
\nConvention against Torture which in article 3 provides that no State Party
\nshall return, refoul or extradite a person to another State where there
\nare grounds for believing that that person would be in danger of being
\nsubjected to torture.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSERAP also notes that asylum or in other words the possibility for an
\nindividual to seek refuge is recognised in Article 14 of the Universal
\nDeclaration of Human Rights as \u201ca fundamental human right.\u201d The
\nDeclaration guarantees the right to life, liberty and security, to equal
\nprotection of the law and the right to seek and to enjoy in other
\ncountries asylum from persecution. As such, the Nigerian authorities
\nshould have afforded the naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum
\nseekers their basic human rights including the right to a fair trial.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArticle 5 of the African Charter of Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights, which
\nprohibits torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment by been
\ninterpreted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights as
\nincluding a prohibition of returning a person to a country where he or she
\nwould face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
SERAP therefore urged the Chairperson and Bureau of the African Commission
\nto:<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Urgently hold an extra-ordinary session of the African Commission
\nto address the illegal and unfair return of 52 naturalized Nigerians,
\nrefugees and asylum seekers, and the continuing violations of the rights
\nof the returnees by the government of Cameroon;<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Publicly condemn Nigeria\u2019s forced return of the 52 naturalized
\nNigerians, refugees and asylum seekers to Cameroon without any
\nconsideration whatsoever of their claims for protection, and thereby
\nputting them at serious risk of persecution in their country;<\/p>\n
3.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Hold Nigeria and Cameroon to account for violating the rights of
\nthe 52 naturalized Nigerians, refugees\u2019 and asylum seekers\u2019 rights to
\nfreedom from torture and other human rights;<\/p>\n
4.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Make an official visit to Cameroon with special rapporteurs having
\nrelevant mandates and to put pressure on the authorities to release the
\nreturnees from unlawful detention and end the politically motivated trial
\nof naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum seekers;<\/p>\n
5.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Hold that the continuing detention, mistreatment and unfair trial
\nof the returned naturalized Nigerians, refugees and asylum seekers by the
\ngovernment of Cameroon amount to cruel and degrading treatment and in
\nconflict with the country\u2019s human rights obligations, including under the
\nAfrican Charter on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights and the International
\nCovenant on Civil and Political Rights;<\/p>\n
6.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Ask the government of Nigeria to seek the guarantee of government
\nof Cameroon about the safety of the returnees, and that they would afford
\nthe returnees fair trial while they remain in the country;<\/p>\n
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has petitioned the Chairperson of the African Commission on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights requesting \u201cthe urgent intervention of the Bureau of the Commission to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56720,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n