Islamic Human Rights Commission
NIGERIA DIGEST 03 March 2019 (Volume 3 Issue 08)
Note: To enable images in this digest please click on “always show content from this sender” – on top of your email just under sender’s address.
Introduction
Action Alert
Articles
Videos
Archive
INTRODUCTION
Below please find an update on the continuous Free Zakzaky protests. This week UJN castigated Commonwealth over silence on human right abuses in Nigeria.
Click here to watch the weekly message from IHRC chair Masoud Shadjerah about our fundraising and campaigning for the Islamic Movement of Nigeria.
We request campaigners keep the pressure on the Commonwealth by writing emails/letters, demanding the immediate release of the Sheikh and all those unjustly imprisoned. Please forward any responses you receive to us on wajahat@ihrc.org and keep the pressure up by continuing to send follow-ups. A model letter is provided below in the Action Alert.
To find out more about the Zaria massacre of 2015, read IHRC’s submission to the International Criminal Court here
To find out how you can help further, please visit the IHRC FreeZakzaky campaign page here
Free Zakzaky!
ACTION ALERT:
1. Click here to learn the five things you can do to support the Islamic Movement of Nigeria. You can donate to support the medical expenses of those recently injured by clicking here.
2. Click here to send an email to the Commonwealth and demand their intervention in this case. A model letter and contact details of the Commonwealth are provided below. Please forward any responses you receive to IHRC at wajahat@ihrc.org.
Model email / letter
If you are emailing, please use the following in the subject line:
Commonwealth’s failure to act on human rights abuses in Nigeria
Your name
Your address
Date
Rt Hon Patricia Scotland QC
Commonwealth Secretariat
Marlborough House
Pall Mall
London
SW1Y 5HX
Dear Baroness Scotland QC,
Re: Commonwealth’s failure to act on human rights abuses in Nigeria
Nigeria has been the subject of repeated complaints over its killings of supporters of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria from 2015 onwards and the arrest and prosecution of its leader Sheikh Ibrahim el-Zakzaky, his wife Zeenah and other members.
In stark contrast to the Commonwealth Secretariat’s robust stand during the tenure of President Abacha years, very little if anything has been said about this issue from your office.
Nigerian authorities are currently trying Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife along with two other members of the Islamic Movement on trumped up charges relating to events surrounding the massacre in December 2015 by the Nigerian military of over 1000 followers of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria. This case has only been made after the federal court ruled in late 2016 (a year after their detention) that Sheikh Zakzaky’s detention and that of his wife Zeenah was unlawful and unconstitutional and ordered the government to release them by January 16, 2017 and pay compensation. That order was never implemented and the charges were brought against the couple in 2018.
It is imperative that you apply pressure on the Nigerian authorities so that they stop killing innocent people and adhere to the High Court judgement of December 2016, and release Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife immediately.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Yours sincerely,
[Name]
Commonwealth Contact Details:
Email: info@commonwealth.int
Postal Address: Marlborough House, Pall Mall, London SW1Y 5HX, United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7747 6500
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7930 0827
ARTICLES AND RESOURCES
HRC Press Release
Nigeria: Commonwealth castigated over silence on human rights abuses
26 February 2019
The Universal Justice Network has written to the head of the Commonwealth Secretary-General excoriating the organisation for its failure to act on serial human rights abuses in Nigeria.
The Commonwealth member has been the subject of repeated complaints over its killings of supporters of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria from 2015 onwards and the arrest and prosecution of its leader Sheikh Ibrahim el-Zakzaky, his wife Zeenah and other members.
However, according to the letter the secretary-general has not raised so much as a whimper “to some of the most egregious abuses of human rights conducted by (President) Buhari and members of his security apparatus”.
This, says the letter, is in stark contrast to the Commonwealth Secretariat’s robust stand during the tenure of President Abacha years.
“We would have expected by now for there to have been public statements, organisational sanctions and indeed mobilisation from the Commonwealth Secretariat on various fronts to ensure the release of Zakzaky et. al, immediate access to medical treatment and the beginnings of restorative justice processes, all directed and facilitated by / through your office as part of transitional packages to a truer civil democratic structure in Nigeria”, states the letter.
Click here to read the full press release.
Followers of Sheikh Zakzaky commemorated Birth Anniversary of the daughter of the Prophet (pbuh)
27 February 2019
Followers of Sheikh Zakzaky marked international women day on the great occasion of the birthday anniversary of sayyidah Zahra (sa) and programmes took place in different cities. In katsina, Nigeria, on Wednesday the 27/2/2019 a 2 day program was organised and Sheikh Yaqoub Yahaya delivered series of lectures on the auspicious birth of the chief of ladies of the worlds.
While congratulating the Muslim-Umma on this memorable occasion, followers of Sheikh Zakzaky reiterated the urgent need for the unconditional release of their leader Sheikh Ibraheem el-Zakzaky (H) and his disciples
On El-Zakzaky’s Continued Detention
01 March 2018 – This Day Editorial
Despite the recent sensational claim by the federal government that it spends about N3.5 million monthly to feed Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, detained since December 2015, his supporters continue to hold repeated protests in Abuja, demanding his release. As we have argued in the past, the government must be mindful of the security implications of such a man, illegally detained, dying in confinement.
Click here to read the full article.
VIDEOS
Appeal to Help Recent Nigeria Massacre Victims
01 November 2018 – IHRC Weekly
The Nigerian authorities have attacked the Islamic Movement of Nigeria leaving dozens dead. They need your help now.
Leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria Remains in Custody Despite Poor Health
22 February 2019 Press tv
Watch a short clip of News Reviews with Arzu Merali of Islamic Human Rights Commission and Abayomi Azikewi, editor Pan African News Wire.
ARCHIVE
Click here to read IHRC PRESS RELEASE – Nigeria: Evidence emerges of mass burials after Arbaeen massacre, published on 24 November 2016
Click here to read A Letter by IHRC Chair Massoud Shadjareh to President Buhari regarding possible attacks on Arbaeen processions in Nigeria, the letter was sent on 08 November 2016.
——————————————————————————-
IHRC is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
Islamic Human Rights Commission
PO Box 598
Wembley
HA9 7XH
United Kingdom
Telephone (+44) 20 8904 4222
Email: info@ihrc.org
Web: www.ihrc.org
Twitter @ihrc
The opinions expressed in this email do not necessarily reflect the views of IHRC
