Amnesty International, an international human rights organization, has urged President Bola Tinubu to initiate an investigation into instances of rights abuses that occurred during the previous administration.
Isa Sanusi, the group’s Country Director, made the call in Abuja on Wednesday at a public presentation of a document titled, ‘Nigeria: Human Rights Agenda 2023.’
He said it was important for the present administration to hold those responsible for past rights violations to account.
Sanusi said, “The President should hold perpetrators of past rights violations to account.
“The President must ensure that human rights are at the centre of his policies. He must implement the recommendations of previous investigation panels on human rights violations, and promptly, thoroughly, impartially, independently, effectively, and transparently investigate human rights violations under the past government to ensure justice and accountability.”
He said copies of the document had been distributed to the President and other senior government officials in an effort to assist them in devising a fresh plan of action in response to human rights abuses.
“We implore the government to make human rights protection its priority by ensuring that every Nigerian’s rights are protected and that perpetrators of rights breaches do not go unpunished.
“We appeal to the government to study the document and come up with a plan on how to implement it,” he added.
The group’s board chairman, Auwal Rafsanjani, said the organisation was not “anti-government,” but rather against the flagrant abuses of human rights that are pervasive in the nation.
Rafsanjani called on the authorities to protect citizens’ rights and, in the case that they are violated, to look into the matter and bring those responsible to justice.
Emphasising Nigerians’ rights to life, free speech, and assembly, among other things, he lamented Nigerians’ declining economic standing, which he attributed to government corruption.
Source: The Punch
