Transition or Travesty?
By HRW | Published 24 October 1997
In November 1995, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (chogm), convened in Auckland, New Zealand, suspended Nigeria from membership in the Commonwealth pending its compliance with the principles of the 1991 Harare Declaration, which commits Commonwealth members to democratic political processes and respect for human rights and the rule of law. The suspension was in protest over the arbitrary execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists from the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (mosop) on November 10, 1995, while chogm was in session, and also over the persistent hold of Nigeria’s armed forces on government and their failure to return the country to civilian rule. The heads of government stated that if no demonstrable progress was made towards respect for the Harare Declaration, including the release of political prisoners, Nigeria would be expelled from the Commonwealth. Two years later, the Nigerian military government led by Gen. Sani Abacha has failed to make progress with regard to any of the principles set out in the Harare Declaration.
“Permanent Transition”
By HRW | Published 1 September 1996
Despite its stated commitment to return Nigeria to elected civilian rule by October 1, 1998, the military government continues to violate the rights of Nigerians to free political activity, including freedom of expression, assembly and association, freedom of movement, and freedom from arbitrary detention and trial. Its security forces in Ogoniland and elsewhere persist in a longstanding pattern of human rights abuses. Head of state Gen. Sani Abacha continues to hold in arbitrary detention the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 elections, Chief M.K.O. Abiola. Nigerians are deeply skeptical that this military government, after setting aside the fairest elections ever held in their country, will hand over power to a civilian government when it has promised to do so. Nigeria appears to be in a state of permanent transition, still governed by the armed forces a decade after a program to restore democracy was first announced by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida.
The Ogoni Crisis A Case-Study
By HRW | Published 1 July 1995
Two years after the annulment of the June 1993 presidential election, which was widely viewed to have been won by Chief Abiola, the Nigerian political climate was volatile and human rights violations pervasive. The repressive tactics of the government of Gen. Sani Abacha, who seized power in November 1993, generated increasing skepticism throughout the country about the promised transition to democracy. This report focuses on the military crackdown in Ogoniland, which began in late May 1994 following the murders by a mob of four Ogoni leaders who were branded as pro-government. In the wake of the murders, which occurred under disputed circumstances, the Rivers State Internal Security Task Force embarked on a series of punitive raids on Ogoni villages characterized by flagrant human rights abuses, including extrajudicial executions, indiscriminate shooting, arbitrary arrests and detention, floggings, rapes, looting, and extortion.
The Price of Oil
By HRW | Published January 1999
This report is an exploration of human rights violations related to oil exploration and productionin the Niger Delta, and of the role and responsibilities of the major multinational oil companies inrespect of those violations. The Niger Delta has for some years been the site of majorconfrontations between the people who live there and the Nigerian government security forces,resulting in extra-judicial executions, arbitrary detentions, and draconian restrictions on the rightsto freedom of expression, association, and assembly. These violations of civil and political rightshave been committed principally in response to protests about the activities of the multinationalcompanies that produce Nigeria’s oil. Although the June 1998 death of former head of state Gen.Sani Abacha and his succession by Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar has brought a significantrelaxation in the unprecedented repression General Abacha inflicted on the Nigerian people, andGeneral Abubakar appears committed to ensuring the installation of an elected civilian government in May 1999, human rights abuses in the oil producing communities continue and the basic situation in the delta remains unchanged.
Threats to a New Democracy
By HRW | Published 1 June 1993
Prior to the June 12 presidential elections, the Nigerian military government stepped up attacks on civil institutions, raising fears about its intentions to leave office as promised and, if it does leave, about the future stability of the country. The government’s actions have included arresting and threatening human rights activists, closing two publications, arresting and detaining journalists, taking over the national bar association and threatening striking academics.Adding to fears has been the government’s mishandling of ethnic and religious conflicts that have the potential to tear the country apart. In an investigation of violence between the Jukun and Tiv ethnic groups in northeastern Taraba State and the Katafs and Hausas in Kaduna State, Africa Watch learned that, in some instances, government forces have joined in attacks. In other instances, their slow response to ethnic fighting has prolonged violence.
- What Ails the American Economy?
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By Kevin Phillips, Barry Gewen
28 Feb 2009
Even if his pessimism doesn’t seem wholly warranted, a sense of foreboding surely is, which is why his warnings have to be taken seriously. Mr. Phillips writes that the inventors and marketers of the new financial instruments didn’t entirely understand them. An executive of Fidelity International says a panicky feeling has set in on Wall Street because no one knows where the risks really are. The finance minister of France observes that investments may have reached such a level of complexity that no one can assess them. And Charles R. Morris, in his own gloomy book, “The Trillion Dollar Meltdown,” reports that even Citigroup’s chief financial officer “did not know how to value his holdings.
- What Ails the American Economy?
-
By Kevin Phillips, Barry Gewen
28 Feb 2009
Even if his pessimism doesn’t seem wholly warranted, a sense of foreboding surely is, which is why his warnings have to be taken seriously. Mr. Phillips writes that the inventors and marketers of the new financial instruments didn’t entirely understand them. An executive of Fidelity International says a panicky feeling has set in on Wall Street because no one knows where the risks really are. The finance minister of France observes that investments may have reached such a level of complexity that no one can assess them. And Charles R. Morris, in his own gloomy book, “The Trillion Dollar Meltdown,” reports that even Citigroup’s chief financial officer “did not know how to value his holdings.