Islamic Human Rights Commission
NIGERIA DIGEST 18 August 2019 (Volume 3 Issue 24)
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Introduction
Action Alert
Articles
Videos
Archive
INTRODUCTION
Global #FreeZakzaky protests continued as Sheikh El-Zakazky and Mallimah Zeenah were forced to return back to detention in Kaduna. Last week Kaduna High Court granted leave to travel to India for medical treatment but Nigerian security services with the assistance of Indian authorities continued to victimise the leader of Islamic Movement in India.
The Free Zakzaky campaign page on our website is being reconstructed but you can already get links to the latest action, digest, press release and video / audio, as well as background and donation information, as well as some of the campaign archives there. Please bookmark this page.
This week, we request campaigners keep the pressure on the Commonwealth Secretariat 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.
Click here to watch the message from IHRC chair Massoud Shadjerah about our fundraising and campaigning for those injured by police and army violence and the families of those killed. You can donate for Qurbani to help the families of those killed. Please CLICK here for more information to support the victims of police and army brutality in Nigeria and do share the fundraising video provided. They are in urgent need of our support please DONATE here and encourage others to do the same.
You can see photos of the world-wide demonstrations on IHRC’s website, Facebook and Twitter (@ihrc) pages. You can find detailed reports of demonstration in Nigeria in these digests and on our site.
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:
Click hereto 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 plight of Sheikh Zakzaky
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
I am writing to ask for your urgent intervention and to apply pressure on the Nigerian authorities to immediately release the unlawfully detained leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife Zeenah. They have been held in illegal detention for over 3 years. You are doubtless aware of the details of his case.
I am deeply concerned about their safety and security.
I request your urgent intervention and to make the following representations to the Nigerian government immediately to:
- guarantee Sheikh and Mallimah’s safety and security;
- give them immediate and unfettered access to their own doctors and international medical team;
- give them immediate and unfettered access to their local and international legal team and advocates;
- work towards their immediate travel to a country of their choosing for urgent medical treatment as per the court order of this month;
- work towards their immediate and unconditional release as per the court order of 2016
I look forward to hearing from you, Yours sincerely,
[Your signature if posting]
[Name]
Commonwealth’s 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
The Abortive Medical Trip of El-Zakzaky
18 August 2019
Listen to Massoud Shadjareh (from 3 minutes to end) discuss the reasons for the aborted medical trip of Sheik El-Zakzaky on Focus on Africa with William Niba on Radio France International. Click here to listen the message.
ALERT: Keep up pressure for the release of Sheikh El-Zakzaky and Mallimah Zeenah
17 August 2019
Sheikh El-Zakzaky and Mallimah Zeenah have been returned to detention in Kaduna. IHRC remains concerned for their well-being and asks campaigners to take action by calling on the Nigerian authorities to guarantee their safety and stand by the various court orders for their release and travel for medical treatment.
Click here for the alert details and the model email.
Germany: #FreeZakzaky Protest in Cologne Germany
17 August 2019
A protest was organised in Cologne, Germany to demand immediate release of Sheikh Zakzaky for urgent medical treatment.
South Africa: #FreeZakzaky Protest in Capetown, South Africa
16 August 2019
#FreeZakzaky protest was organised in Capetown, South Africa.
Nigeria: Where are Sheikh El-Zakzaky and Mallimah Zeenah?
16 August 2019
IHRC is deeply concerned regarding the safety and security of Sheikh El-Zakzaky and his wife Mallimah Zeenah who were returned under Nigerian security control to Abuja today from India.
Click here for more details.
ALERT – NIGERIA: Demand guarantees of Sheikh Zakzaky, Mallimah Zeenah’s safety
16 August 2019
Sheikh El-Zakzaky and Mallimah Zeenah have been taken back to Nigeria under the control of Nigerian security services. IHRC urges campaigners to demand immediate knowledge of Sheikh El-Zakzaky and Mallimah Zeenah’s whereabouts from the Nigerian authorities as well as assurances and guarantees of their safety and security.
Click here for more details and the action alert
EVENT: NIGERIA / UK – Free Zakzaky Protest called on Friday 16, 4-7pm London
15 August 2019
A protest was called outside the Nigeria High Commission, London, UK on Friday 16 August 2019 to demand that Sheikh El-Zakzaky and Mallimah Zeenah are released immediately on their return to Nigeria so that they can travel for urgent medical treatment.
Sheikh El-Zakazky and Mallimah Zeenah have stated they will return to Nigeria rather than continue to be harassed and denied the medical care they require in India. Video statements in Hausa and English have been released by the Sheikh and will be made available below.
The actions of the Indian authorities in facilitating the harassment of the couple at the hands of the Nigeria security services is extraordinary. The restrictions placed on the couple seeing their own medical team, lawyers, advocates and even friends has meant that the couple have lost all faith in the process. Click here for more details.
ALERT – INDIA / NIGERIA: Ask India to guarantee the rights of Sheikh El-Zakzaky and Mallima Zeenah
15 August 2019
Sheikh El-Zakzaky and Mallimah Zeenah remain under Nigerian security control in hospital in New Delhi. Negotiations are ongoing to ensure both the Sheikh and Mallimah’s immediate needs and comfort are met, as well full access and freedom of movement given.
Click here for more details and the action alert / model email
Breaking: Sheikh Zakzaky Faces Fresh, Harsher Persecution In India
14 August 2019
Reports reaching us indicate that the Nigerian government, in collaboration with American and Indian governments, have continued the persecution of the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky in the Indian hospital.
In an audio recording of the Sheikh in India, he talked of the worst form of persecution that he had never ever experienced in all the 13 years of his incarceration by successive governments in various prisons and detention centers in Nigeria. “Even worse than Kirikiri maximum security prison”, he said.
Click here for more details.
India / Nigeria: Indian government restraining Sheikh El-Zakazky, denying medical treatment; threatening return to Nigeria
14 August 2019
IHRC is deeply concerned that the Indian government appears to acting as a policeman in the Kaduna district of Nigeria. They appear to have collaborated with Nigerian security services. Click here for more details.
ALERT – INDIA / NIGERIA: Demand India respect the rights of Sheikh El-Zakzaky and Mallima Zeenah
14 August 2019
Indian police / security services appear to be working in collaboration with Nigeria security services, and effectively imprisoning Sheikh El-Zakzaky and Mallimah Zeenah in hospital in New Delhi. To watch a short video on the current situation please visit this page or watch it at the end of the page.
Click here for more details and the action alert / model email.
Sheikh El-Zakzaky & Mallimah Zeenah arrive in Delhi
13 August 2019
The Sheikh and Mallimah have just arrived for medical treatment after three and a half years of detention without charge. For more information on Sheikh El-Zakzaky visit here.
PRESS KIT: Who is Sheikh El-Zakzaky? – Challenges to the Buhari Narrative
13 August 2019
The papers provide (i) an overview of the background of the movement (Caterina Aiena); a discussion of how the ‘Shia’ label and narrative is a label used by the Nigeria authorities to demonise and mis-characterise the movement and the Sheikh for different audiences (Arzu Merali); (iii) and overview of the legal campaign with a focus on the submission to the International Criminal Court regarding the Zaria Massacre of 2015 (Abed Choudhury); and (iv) an overview of the campaign to secure his release since 2015 (Massoud Shadjareh).
Click here for more details.
UK Sit-in – Free Sheikh Zakzaky, Nigerian High Commission, London
12 August 2019
In light of tonight’s news that Sheikh Zakzaky and Mallimah Zeenah are en route to India for medical treatment, the sit-in outside the Nigerian High Commission has been suspended. However campaigning for full justice for the Sheikh and all those who have faced turmoil and tragedy at the hands of the Nigerian government.
Event Report: Free Zakzaky demo in Stockholm
11 August 2019
Protestors stood outside the Nigerian Embassy in Stockholm on 10 August, Sweden to demand the immediate release of Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and Mallimah Zeenah.
Australians Enlist Support For Sheikh Zakzaky
10 August 2019
Just as the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky had predicted that applying force against the Movement would only make the light of his mission reach every nook and corner of the World, Australians have been the latest to demonstrate their support for Sheikh Zakzaky.
GENEVA: #FreeZakzaky Protest in Geneva, Switzerland
08 August 2019
A protest was organised in Geneva, Switzerland to demand immediate release of Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria
Who is Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky?
07 August 2019
As world-wide demonstrations have shown, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky has touched the hearts and minds of millions not just in Nigeria. Below are links and resources to help explain who he is and what he stands for. Click here for the details.
IHRC welcomes court order permitting release of Sheikh Zakzaky
05 August 2019
IHRC welcomes the decision of the Kaduna State High Court this morning granting bail to Sheikh Ibrahim el-Zakzaky and his wife to leave Nigeria in order to receive urgent medical treatment.
While the decision does not exonerate the pair, it is nevertheless an important first step in taking them out of the country where they have been persecuted for over three years. If and when they are released the couple will board a flight to India where specialist medical facilities are available to treat the sheikh’s extreme levels of lead poisoning.
IHRC chair Massoud Shadjareh said: “This is a long overdue decision and we hope that the Nigerian executive expedites matters to make their departure smooth and unproblematic. We look forward to their prompt release without forgetting that there are still approximately 150 members and supporters of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria still in detention.” Click here for more details.
Germany: #FreeZakzaky Protest in Berlin Germany
05 August 2019
#FreeZakzaky protest was organised in Berlin, Germany
#FreeZakzaky Protest in Dallas, USA
04 August 2019
#FreeZakzaky protest was organised in Dallas, USA
USA: #FreeZakzaky Protest in Dearborn, MI, USA
04 August 2019
#FreeZakzaky protest was organised in Dearborn, MI, USA
USA: #FreeZakzaky Protest in Copley square Boston, USA
03 August 2019
#Free Zakzaky protest was organised in Copley square Boston, USA
VIDEOS
Appeal to Help Recent Nigeria Massacre Victims
Published on 01 November 2018 – IHRC Weekly
The Nigerian authorities have attacked the Islamic Movement of Nigeria leaving dozens dead. They need your help now.
Sheikh El-Zakzaky – Message from Medanta Hospital
15 August 2019
ARCHIVES
Click here to read the Arzu Merali’s blog on Sheikh Zakzaky “Zakzaky is not Thomas Becket; Buhari be warned” published on 22 February 2019.
Click here to read the IHRC Press Release published on 02 July 1998 “Nigerian junta should release all political prisoners regardless of their faith”
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Islamic Human Rights Commission
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Telephone (+44) 20 8904 4222
Email: info@ihrc.org
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The opinions expressed in this email do not necessarily reflect the views of IHRC
