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Nigeria: Ogoni Press Release
Nigeria: Ogoni Press Release
Date distributed (ymd): 980810
Document reposted by APIC
+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++
Region: West Africa
Issue Areas: +political/rights+
Summary Contents:
This posting contains a press release from the Movement for the Survival
of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), detailing the failure of the military regime
to release imprisoned Ogoni activists. The previous posting contains an
issue brief from Amnesty International USA, summarizing the need for continued
international pressure on the Nigerian military regime. It also contains
a short introduction with links to other sources for current information.
+++++++++++++++++end profile++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
July 28th 1998
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Tim Concannon, Ledum Mitee
(+44) (0)181 563 8614
<mosop@gn.apc.org>
Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP),
International secretariat:
Suite 5, 3 - 4 Albion Place, Galena Road,
London W6 0LT, United Kingdom.
Tel. (+44) (0)181 563 8614; Fax. (+44) (0)181 563 8615
http://www.oneworld.org/mosop/
e-mail: mosop@gn.apc.org
NIGERIAN MILITARY DEFY DEMANDS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
AND REFUSE TO RELEASE THE OGONI 20 ON BAIL
JULY 28th 1998, PORT HARCOURT PRISON, RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA -
20 Ogoni continue to languish in the jail cell where they have been
held since May 1994, after the Nigerian police have refused to obey a High
Court ruling to release 15 of the detainees on bail.
Police have told the 20's lawyers that the prisoners will not be released
without direct orders from military commanders in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.
The 20's legal defense team are petitioning the head of state General
Abubakar, and have filed an application for the security forces to be held
in contempt of court for refusing to release the detainees.
The 20 face the same politically motivated murder charges, the same
violations of their human rights in prison and to a fair trial, the same
military appointed tribunal and the same hangman's noose which killed MOSOP
President Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders in November 1995.
Ogoni is currently under combined army and security forces occupation,
with the normal duties of the police subject to oversight by the military
[1].
The European Union has directly appealed to Nigeria's head of state
General Abubakar to act on the 20's case. UK Foreign Minister Tony Lloyd
said `[the European Union called for] the early resolution of the case
of Chief Abiola and the 20 Ogonis, as well as the release of the remaining
detainees' when he held face to face talks with General Abubakar, in Abuja
on June 28th 1998.
The refusal to release the prisoners follows a decision made yesterday
by a High Court Judge, Mr. Justice Ebie Daniel-Kalio in Port Harcourt to
delay a ruling on a bail application made on behalf of 5 of the detainees
till October 14th. This is the fourth occasion on which the Judge has adjourned
a ruling on their application. Other rulings have been adjourned from June
15th, June 29th and July 13th 1998.
MOSOP believes this to be clear evidence that the regime is trying to
keep the plight of the Ogoni 20 out of the international spotlight. Anxious
to avoid another show trial of Ogoni detainees likely to incur international
condemnation, the state has delayed the 20's court proceedings for more
than four years by deliberate obstruction of the due process of law.
Responding to the police refusal to release 15 of the Ogoni 20, MOSOP's
Acting President Ledum Mitee remarked:
`I am alarmed and saddened by this deliberate - and clearly illegal
- delay in releasing the Ogoni 20 on bail. This development demonstrates
the need for urgent international action to secure the release of the Ogoni
20'.
'With all this talk of democratic change in Nigeria, surely the world
cannot stand by and allow another 20 Ogoni men to suffer the fate of Ken
Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders murdered by the regime in 1995'.
'MOSOP calls on Shell to make an immediate public statement demanding
the authorities obey Nigerian law and release the Ogoni 20 on bail'.
'MOSOP calls on Nigerians and the international community to demand
that the military authorities abide by Nigerian law and allows the 20 to
be released on bail'.
BACKGROUND
"As proof of the genuineness of the call for reconciliation on
the part of this Administration, and the desire to have all hands on deck
for the new dispensation, this Administration has released all political
detainees. Government has also decided to withdraw all charges against
political offenders. I therefore call on all Nigerians to reciprocate this
gesture. Those in self-exile should return and join our efforts to build
a greater nation" - Nigerian military ruler General Abdulsalam Abuba
"[The case of the Ogoni 20] has been stymied by the Government's
indifference to constituting a new tribunal composed of only civilian members
to hear their case" - U.S. Department of State country report on human
rights in Nigeria, January 1998.
"[The European Union calls for] the early resolution of the case
of Chief Abiola and the 20 Ogonis, as well as the release of the remaining
detainees" - UK Foreign Minister Tony Lloyd, following face to face
talks with General Abubakar, June 28th 1998.
The Nigerian military routinely and deliberately frustrate the due process
of law to punish perceived political opponents by illegally prolonging
their detention, including by refusing to obey bail rulings from the Courts.
- Despite charging the 20 under both Nigerian criminal law and the law
covered by military decrees, the authorities have deliberately delayed
their trial by arguing that the 20 should be tried under the jurisdiction
of the same Ogoni Civil Disturbances Tribunal (where military law is applicable)
that murdered the Ogoni 9 in November 1995, rather than the High Court
(where Nigerian criminal law is applicable).
- An application was first made by the state on May 27th 1997 - almost
2 years after the first set of charges were made against 15 of the 20 -
to stay proceedings pending a Court of Appeal ruling on jurisdiction. Justice
Daniel-Kalio ruled that he had jurisdiction to hear the bail application
[2].
- Subsequently, the state has delayed the case by frequent interventions
to stay proceedings, arguing over bail applications and the jurisdiction
of the case, withdrawing from the case and then repeating the same applications
in the Court of Appeal.
- On May 6th 1998, an application by the state was made to the Court
of Appeal to stay a bail ruling, arguing that bail could not be granted
until the issue of jurisdiction of the case had been resolved.
- On May 22nd Justice Daniel-Kalio granted bail to 15 of the 20 (those
named on the first of the three charge sheets for conspiracy to commit
four murders in Giokoo, Ogoni, and the actual murder of Chief Albert T.
Badey on May 21st 1994).
In closing his ruling, Mr. Justice Daniel-Kalio, said:
"I think the prosecution has a duty, if I may use a modern expression,
to be `pro-active' towards the case of the applicants [the Ogoni 20]. The
respondent [the state] has not shown what it has been doing all these years
of the applicants incarceration in prison custody with respect to ensuring
that they are prosecuted for the offence for which they have been held
is custody. By not being `pro-active' the impression is being given although
it may well be erroneous, that the respondent is sati
"The courts frown at any passive attitude towards cases of persons
held in custody for long periods of time and in appropriate cases will
grant bail [...] Let me say in closing that the presumption of innocence
remains a backbone of our criminal justice system. If that backbone is
trampled upon, God forbid, the concomitant effect will be too horrid to
contemplate, much less express".
- MOSOP has a copy of a legal document dated May 25th issued by the Court
to release one of the 20 to bail on satisfaction of the bail conditions.
- On May 28th Justice Daniel-Kalio suspended his ruling, pending the
decision of the Court of Appeal on an application by the state to stop
the hearing. The state prosecutor appeared ex parte before Justice Daniel-Kalio,
meaning the defence was not represented. The legal expert Michael Birnbaum
has described this as `in itself a most disturbing feature of any proceedings
relating to bail' [3]. According to MOSOP sources, Justice Daniel-Kalio
suspended his ruling under direct pressure from the
- On June 1st the Court of Appeal dismissed the state's application to
stay the May 22nd bail proceedings in the High Court.
- According to Nigerian legal experts the Court of Appeal's ruling means
that the May 22nd bail ruling still stands. Under Nigerian law the 20 should
be released on bail.
- On June 1st, having satisfied the bail conditions, the 20's defense
lawyers were told by the police that the 20 couldn't be released without
the express order of the Abuja authorities.
- Immediately following the unexpected death of the head of state General
Abacha on June 8th - and the period of political uncertainty that followed
- the overtly political nature of the Ogoni 20's case seems to have discouraged
the High Court from hearing applications on their behalf.
- The High Court declined to hear bail applications on behalf of the
remaining 5 detainees - whose bail status has not previously been ruled
on - on June 15th, June 29th and July 13th. On July 13th the state prosecutor
was not present. On other occasions Justice Daniel-Kalio was able to hear
the case, but he declined to.
- On July 13th Justice Daniel-Kalio formally revoked his suspension of
his ruling granting bail to 15 of the Ogoni 20.
- On July 27th a hearing on the bail application on behalf of the remaining
5 detainees was adjourned for a fourth time. A ruling is now expected on
October 14th 1998.
- On July 27th the police again refused to release the 20 to bail, pending
the express order of the Abuja authorities.
- This is clear evidence of the continued extra-legal interference by
the state in the legal process.
The regime knows that executing the 20, or even trying them, will draw
unwanted attention. Instead, the authorities seem prepared to let them
die from disease or through torture and maltreatment in detention.
Whether the Ogoni 20 are executed following a show trial, or they are
allowed to die in prison through disease or maltreatment, the military
authorities' political motivations for detaining them are the same:
- to punish the Ogoni 20 for speaking out against state oppression in
Ogoni and the environmental devastation of Ogoni land
- to deter MOSOP and the Ogoni people from continuing our campaign
- to deter other Niger Delta peoples from mounting similar protests.
Like the 9 Ogoni killed in 1995, the regime is making an example of
the Ogoni 20.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The Rivers State Internal Security Task Force is a combined Nigerian
military operation in Ogoni that has been overtly operating under this
title since 1994.
[2] 'Suit No PHC/ 150M/ 97: Commissioner of Police v Sampson Ntignee
& others (Ogoni 20)', High Court, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
[3] Michael Birnbaum QC, July 3rd 1998, `Note on the Ogoni 20', London,
UK.
ENDS.
MOSOP has now prepared a detailed Ogoni File - `The Ogoni 20: their
arrest, detention and continued abuses of their fundamental rights by the
Nigerian state'.
Copies are available by e-mail on request (if you want the document
sent to you by email as an attachment, please specify the compression format
your system and software accepts (Word 6.0 for Pc, Word for Mac etc).
Additional Note from MOSOP International Secretariat
Dear Friends -
Today's development is clear evidence that the Ogoni 20 remain political
hostages of the Nigerian military. The regime knows that executing the
20, or even trying them will draw unwanted attention. In his treatment
of the Ogoni 20, Abubakar is showing himself to be no different from his
predecessor. He intends to let them die from disease or through torture
and maltreatment in detention.
MOSOP calls on Nigerians, the international community and supporters
of the cause of human rights in Ogoni to:
- Demand that the Nigerian authorities abide by Nigerian law and allow
the 20 to be released on bail.
- Demand that Shell makes a public statement demanding that the authorities
obey Nigerian law and release the Ogoni 20 on bail.
Write to:
General Abdulsalam Abubakar,
Chairman, Provisional Ruling Council,
State House,
Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. Faxes [+234] 9 523 2138
Salutation: `Dear General'
And to diplomatic representatives of Nigeria accredited to your country.
Cor Herkstroter,
Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors, Royal/ Dutch Shell Group
of Companies,
Shell Centre, York Road, London,
United Kingdom.
Faxes [+44] 171 934 5252
e-mail: Shell International Ltd., External Affairs <press-info@si.shell.com>
Salutation: `Dear Mr. Herkstroter'
And to the member of the Royal/ Dutch Shell group in your country (
http://www.countonshell.com/SOC/index.html -- page no longer available 10/99 --
lists them all with their respective e-mail addresses).
Tim Concannon, Communications Coordinator.
This material is being reposted for wider distribution by the Africa
Policy Information Center (APIC), the educational affiliate of the Washington
Office on Africa. APIC's primary objective is to widen the policy debate
in the United States around African issues and the U.S. role in Africa,
by concentrating on providing accessible policy-relevant information and
analysis usable by a wide range of groups individuals.
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