IHRC’s Free Zakzaky campaign asks campaigners to write to their local MP and urge them to raise the issue of illegal detention of Sheikh Zakzaky in Parliament and demand its intervention on denial of amnesty to Zakzakys amid Covid-19 crisis. A model email and contact details of the African Union are provided below. Please forward any responses you receive to IHRC at wajahat@ihrc.org

Background

Requested Action

Model email

Recipient Addresses

Background

The current Covid-19 pandemic crisis is still ongoing. On April 9, Buhari pardoned 2500 prisoners from Nigeria’s prisons. The pardon includes prisoners aged over 60 and those suffering from severe health conditions. However, this pardon did not include Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife Muallima Zeenah, who are both over 60 and have severe health conditions.

The Sheikh and his wife have been kept in illegal detention for over four years. The federal high court of Nigeria has ordered the release of the Sheikh and his wife including compensation. However, the state authorities have decided to prosecute the couple and imprison them in the Kaduna State prison where the conditions of living pose a threat for their wellbeing, especially in the current pandemic climate.

We are urging the Nigerian authorities to release Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife Muallima Zeenah, other members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria and other political and relevant prisoners. This is a policy that needs to be implemented quickly in Nigeria, given the worsening coronavirus pandemic.

Requested Action

IHRC are calling upon campaigners to write to their local MP urging him/her to raise the issue of the illegal detention of Sheikh Zakzaky in Parliament. A model letter is provided below. If you receive a response please forward it to IHRC at wajahat@ihrc.org

Send email / Letter to your local MP:

Please click on the country name to find the contact details of your respective members of Parliament;
Afghanistan, Canada,India, Indonesia, Iran,Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan,Turkey, UK,

Note: People should be able to find emails of their MPs but please contact us if you have trouble in finding it.

Template Letter

Your name:
Your address:
Date:

Name of your MP
Address

Dear MP (Name),

Intervene to end near five-year’s illegal detention of the leader of Islamic Movement and his wife

I am shocked to find that the Nigerian president’s amnesty on 9 April to 2500 prisoners did not include Sheikh El-Zakzaky and Muallima Zeenah and indeed other political prisoners. The Sheikh and his wife are both aged over 60 and are suffering from severe health conditions.

Despite the fact that over 1000 innocent supporters of the Islamic Movement were butchered in the horrendous Zaria massacre of December 2015, not a single official has been charged or brought to trial over the killings.

Yet we are faced with the spectacle of a politically driven criminal justice system persisting in the prosecution of the leader of Islamic movement, Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife, in defiance of a court order demanding their release, in 2016.

I am sure you agree that this is unacceptable state of affairs, and that the Government must intervene to ensure that these injustices are rectified immediately.

I urge your office to take this issue to Parliament and take all necessary actions against the government of Nigeria until such a time as their political process returns to some form of democratic practice and due process.

Further, I demand immediate sanctions be placed against Nigeria for its continued violations of basic human rights norms in this and other cases.

I look forward to hearing from you regarding the action your office will take in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

[Your signature if scanning / faxing]

Your name

Note: Due to the COVID19 outbreak, we do not advise sending letters by post