Amnesty International said on Monday the International Criminal Court should start a full-blown investigation into atrocities committed in the Boko Haram insurgency, accusing Nigeria of failing to bring those responsible to justice.
ICC chief prosecutor Fatma Bensouda opened a preliminary examination in 2010 into eight potential cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the violence.
Six cases relate to the jihadists and include the killing of civilians, mass kidnapping, attacks on schools and places of worship, sexual violence, plus the use of children in conflict.
The other two – involving attacks on civilians, mass arrests and detention of suspects, abuse, torture and summary executions – concern the military.
Boko Haram’s Islamist insurgency has killed more than 27,000 people and left 1.8-million homeless in northeast Nigeria since 2009, triggering a humanitarian crisis in the wider region.
President Muhammadu Buhari, a former military ruler, promised in June 2015 to “leave no stone unturned to deal with all cases of human rights abuses”.
Bensouda acknowledged in her latest annual report published on December 5 that Nigeria appeared to have taken concrete steps towards investigating the allegations.
She wrote there appeared to be a tangible prospect of proceedings against Boko Haram members but not against troops “since the Nigerian authorities tend to deny any allegation”.
But Amnesty International suggested Abuja was keeping her in limbo by giving the impression of domestic action but in reality doing very little.
“Eight years since the opening of the preliminary examination and faced with the continuing commission of crimes under international law and the possibility of a never-ending preliminary analysis, it is time for the OTP [Office of the Prosecutor] to open a formal investigation in Nigeria,” it said.
There was no immediate response from the government or military.
But both have previously dismissed accusations from Amnesty as being without foundation.
Central to the human rights group’s argument is Nigeria’s investigations into alleged military atrocities and its prosecution of thousands of Boko Haram suspects.
None of the more than 20 government inquiries launched into claims of abuse by troops and civilian militia members in the past nine years had led to formal investigations and prosecutions, it pointed out.
Instead, the proceedings appeared designed to provide a veneer of accountability and exonerate senior officers and shield persons concerned from criminal responsibility, it alleged.
At the same time there had been a minimal number of prosecutions against mid- to high-ranking Boko Haram members for serious crimes such as terrorism, murder or hostage-taking. –