As Nigeria joins the rest of the global community to commemorate the 2020 International Day in support of Victims of Torture, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has called on the law enforcement agents and indeed all Nigerians to see themselves as advocates against torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatments which have remained a sore point in our human rights records.
The Commission stated that International Day Against Victims of Torture is very significant because “it provides the opportunity on yearly bases to reminisce and review our conducts, as Individuals, groups, security operatives, executives, legislature and Judiciary as well as Ministries, Departments and Agencies and to ensure that they are in conformity with the laid down human rights standards and norms.”
Executive Secretary of NHRC, Tony Ojukwu , who stated this at the eve of this year’s commemoration on Thursday in Abuja, urged the law enforcement officials and other categories of persons to desist from all forms of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment as these are not acceptable in any national, regional or international law.
While expressing worries about the spate of torture and other related human rights violations which come in various forms of domestic violence, assault, rape etc, Ojukwu lamented that although Nigeria has ratified several major international human rights treaties, and has also passed the Anti-Torture Act 2017 into law, torture still remains a weapon used by security agents for interrogating and intimidating suspects.
The NHRC Boss said that the presidential panel on State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) Chaired by the Commission in 2018 revealed that “torture was predominantly the means of collecting evidence from suspects” by SARS. Accordingly, he reminded the Law Enforcement Agencies and their Officials to abide by the provision of UN Minimum Standard Rules for Treatment of Persons under any form of detention.
He urged them to mainstream human rights in their operations, saying the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, the Anti-Torture Act 2017 and other legislation and international instruments to which Nigeria is a party are there to help them in carrying out their lawful duties void of any form of human rights violation.
