{"id":70201,"date":"2019-10-30T21:57:14","date_gmt":"2019-10-30T20:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=70201"},"modified":"2019-10-30T21:57:14","modified_gmt":"2019-10-30T20:57:14","slug":"serap-writes-trump-seeks-travel-ban-for-governors-jailing-journalists-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/serap-writes-trump-seeks-travel-ban-for-governors-jailing-journalists-others\/","title":{"rendered":"SERAP writes Trump, seeks travel ban for governors jailing journalists, others"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
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\n
\n
\nSocio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an
\nopen letter to the US President Donald Trump asking him to exercise his
\nconstitutional powers “pursuant to the Presidential Proclamations 7750
\nand 8697 to instruct the US Secretary of State and US Ambassador in
\nNigeria to temporarily ban Nigerian state governors and other senior
\npublic officials misusing the criminal justice system to jail
\njournalists, bloggers and activists reporting on allegations of
\ncorruption from entering the US.”<\/p>\n

SERAP also urged Mr Trump to “use Presidential Proclamation 8697 (which
\nallows the US Department of State to deny visas to foreign officials,
\ntheir families and friends) who participate in serious human rights
\nviolations and other abuses such as misusing the criminal justice system
\nto jail journalists, bloggers and activists to prevent them from
\nreporting on allegations of corruption and other related cases.”<\/p>\n

The letter followed SERAP’s report titled “A Downward Spiral: How
\nFederal and State Authorities are Tightening the Screws on Media Freedom
\nin Nigeria” and launched today in Lagos.<\/p>\n

In the letter dated 30 October 2019 and signed by SERAP deputy director
\nKolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: “Democracy demands ‘maximum
\ndisclosure’ of all government held information, and this won’t happen
\nwithout respect for media freedom and the citizens’ rights to know.
\nUndue restrictions on media freedom and the right to know would imply
\nnothing short of abrogation of the ideals of democracy and good
\ngovernance. Citizens’ right to know is vital for social welfare and
\nother human rights.”<\/p>\n

SERAP also said, “Media freedom and the right of citizens to know
\nconstitute a crucial bulwark of democracy. It is essential for the
\ngeneral progress of a democratic society if people are to effectively
\nmonitor their government’s affairs and democratically participate in the
\nrunning of society, they must have access to government-held
\ninformation, which the media should be allowed to freely report.”<\/p>\n

SERAP’s report documents the increasing cases of harassment,
\nintimidation, arbitrary arrests and detention and deaths of journalists,
\nbloggers and other media workers while carrying out their legitimate
\nwork.<\/p>\n

SERAP’s letter read in part: “Specifically, the report documents cases
\nof attacks on journalists, bloggers and activists reporting on
\nallegations of corruption and related matters in the following states of
\nNigeria: Cross River state; Abia state; Ebonyi state; Kano state; Jigawa
\nstate; Bauchi state; and Kaduna state.”<\/p>\n

“Also, 109 journalists were attacked between 2010 and 2015, and several
\nmore journalists, bloggers, radio and TV stations and activists have
\nbeen targeted since 2015. At least 36 attacks on journalists were
\nrecorded between January and July 2019 alone, 30 of the attacks
\nhappening during the 2019 general elections.”<\/p>\n

“The attacks and harassment include arbitrary arrests and detention,
\nphysical attacks and even deaths. In 2018, at least 45 radio and TV
\nstations were sanctioned by the authorities on unfounded allegations of
\nbreaching some codes of conduct.”<\/p>\n

“Proactive initiatives to protect media freedom and human rights that
\nwould invariably contribute to transparency and accountability globally
\nhave always been in the best long-term interests of the US. Your
\napplication of targeted sanctions would reaffirm US commitments to human
\nrights, and media freedom and help to supplement the criminal justice in
\nNigeria and be entirely consistent with the US international
\nobligations.”<\/p>\n

“SERAP believes that your government’s imposition of targeted sanctions
\nagainst those accused of misusing the criminal justice system to attack,
\nintimidate, harass and jail journalists, bloggers and activists in
\nNigeria would help to deter other state governments, governors and other
\nsenior public officials from limiting the enjoyment of Nigerians’ right
\nto information about what their government is doing in their names.”<\/p>\n

“Such sanctions would not violate due process and presumption of
\ninnocence principles, as long as the reasons for the sanctions are
\ncommunicated to those that may be affected, as what is recommended is a
\ntemporary travel ban. We argue that the imposition of temporary travel
\nbans on public officials complicit in violation of media freedom and
\npreventing reporting of allegations of corruption is a preventive and
\nnot punitive measure.”<\/p>\n

“SERAP therefore urges you to apply the presidential proclamations 7750
\nand 8697 as instruments of foreign policy to promote targeted sanctions
\nagainst state governments, governors and other senior public officials
\nin Nigeria, just as the US has for many years applied targeted
\nsanctions, including imposing travel restrictions on systematic
\nviolations of human rights.”<\/p>\n

“SERAP believes that applying presidential proclamations 7750 and 8697
\nas recommended would be very helpful to Nigeria’s efforts to protect
\nmedia freedom, improve transparency and accountability and generally
\nensure full respect for the human rights of journalists, bloggers and
\nactivists across Nigeria. It would also facilitate equivalent visa bans
\nin other globally desirable locations as well.”<\/p>\n

“SERAP hopes that you will exercise your constitutional powers to
\npromote human rights, media freedom, transparency and accountability in
\nNigeria.”<\/p>\n

“SERAP also notes that Presidential Proclamations 7750 and 8697
\nunderscore the important role of the media in the establishment of
\nlegitimate and transparent public institutions to world stability,
\npeace, and development.”<\/p>\n

“The proclamations note the US ‘enduring commitment to respect for human
\nrights and humanitarian law’, which requires that its Government be able
\nto ensure that the US does not become a safe haven for suspected
\nviolators of human rights and other abuses. They also aim to help the US
\nauthorities to secure peace, promote the rule of law, combat crime and
\ncorruption, and strengthen democracies around the globe.”<\/p>\n

“Significantly, the Presidential Proclamations underscore that it is in
\nthe interests of the United States to take action to restrict the
\ninternational travel and to suspend the entry into the United States, as
\nimmigrants or non-immigrants, of certain persons who are suspected to be
\ninvolved in serious violations of human rights, humanitarian law and
\nother abuses.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to the US President Donald Trump asking him to exercise his constitutional powers “pursuant to the Presidential Proclamations 7750…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\nSERAP writes Trump, seeks travel ban for governors jailing journalists, others - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/exclusive\/serap-writes-trump-seeks-travel-ban-for-governors-jailing-journalists-others\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SERAP writes Trump, seeks travel ban for governors jailing journalists, others - 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