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SERAP calls on ICC to prosecute sponsors of Boko Haram
01/09/2014 11:31
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has asked Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, Ms Fatou Bensouda, to prosecute alleged sponsors of the dreaded Boko Haram sect.
“Use your good offices and position to urgently investigate allegations that certain high ranking public officials and politicians are among the sponsors of Boko Haram that has continued to engage in unlawful killings and destruction of civil property, and cases of extra-judicial executions in the country,” it said.
This is contained in a statement by Executive Director of SERAP, Adetokunbo Mumuni.
The organisation also asked the court to, “bring to justice anyone complicit in these international crimes prohibited under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, to which Nigeria is a state party.”
It said, “We are seriously concerned that so far those who are responsible for the grave violations of international law have not been identified let alone prosecuted. Worryingly, government’s initiated probes with recommendations on those that may be behind the Boko Haram attacks have not yet been implemented.
“A government committee in 2011 recommended the prosecution of some politicians for funding and providing general support to Boko Haram. This recommendation remains unimplemented as the government White Paper on it published in 2012 has been ignored.
“A Perth-based international adviser to Nigeria, Dr. Stephen Davis, who for four months was involved in negotiations on behalf of the federal government with commanders of Boko Haram for the release of over 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by the sect last April, has named certain high ranking public officials as sponsors of Boko Haram. Among others Davis disclosed that a former governor of Borno State, a former Chief of Army Staff and a former top official of the Central Bank of Nigeria have provided funds and other logistics to Boko Haram to commit crimes under international law.
“We remain concerned that given the antecedents of successive governments to ignore reports and recommendations of national agencies and institutions in situations like this, we are convinced that intervention by the ICC will bring international pressure to bear on the government to honour its international obligations by promptly identifying and bringing to justice those sponsoring and providing support for the Boko Haram attacks.”
The organisation therefore, urged the ICC to step into the matter, as “the intervention by the ICC will ensure that the truth is told about those sponsoring the Boko Haram attacks, and provide the much needed international accountability and ensure effective remedies for victims and their families.”
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