Islamic Human Rights Commission
NIGERIA DIGEST 26 August 2019 (Volume 3 Issue 25)

Introduction
Action Alert
Articles
Videos
Archive

INTRODUCTION
Below please find last week’s update on the Free Zakzaky campaign. During this week #FreeZakzaky protests continued in the Nigerian capital Abuja and different cities of the world.

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 African Union 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. 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 demonstrations 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 African Union and demand their intervention in this case. A model letter and contact details of the African Union 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:
African Union’s failure to act on plight of Sheikh Zakzaky

Your name
Your address
Date

H.E. Moussa Faki Mahamat
Chair African Union Commission 
PO Box 3243 Roosevelt Street (Old Airport Area) W21K19,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Dear H.E. Mousa Faki Mahamat,
Re: African Union’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]

African Union’s Contact Details:
Email: dic@africa-union.org 
Postal Address: PO Box 3243 Roosevelt Street (Old Airport Area) W21K19 Ababa, Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 7844

ARTICLES AND RESOURCES

#FreeZakzaky Candle Light Vigil in South Africa
23 August 2019
#FreeZakzaky candle light vigil was organised in front of South African parliament in Capetown, South Africa. Protesters demanded immediate release of the Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife. Click here for more pictures.

#FreeZakzaky Protest in Abuja
23 August 2019
Free Zakzaky protest staged on 23/08/19, at Sky Memorial Abuja by followers of Sheikh Zakzaky. Protesters demanded immediate release of the Sheikh and his wife for urgent medical treatment.
Click on following link to watch a short clip of the protest.

Sheikh El-Zakzaky’s aborted trip to India for medical treatment – some notes
23 August 2019

IHRC has worked on the campaign to free the Sheikh, his wife and all those detained unjustly from the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, most recently since the Zaria massacres of 2015.  Our work to support members of the Islamic Movement who have been victimised by various Nigerian regimes, goes back to our founding in 1997. There are many facets to this campaign, some of which are publicly known and some of which are confidential to his and the various other cases. Please click here to read the back ground of India trip and what the campaign entails.

#FreeZakzaky Protest in Abuja
21 August 2019
#Free Zakzaky Protest was held on 21st August, 2019. At Utako district of FCT, Abuja. Protesters demanded immediate release of their illegally detained leader Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky.

Linking Islamic Movement In Nigeria With #Revolutionnow, The Fabricated Lies 
21 August 2019
It is no more news that the federal government of Nigeria under the leadership of Buhari at the instructions of America and Israel through their puppets in Saudi Arabia had embarked on senseless crack down on the Islamic movement in Nigeria that led to the death of over a thousand innocent souls of the disciples of Sheikh Zakzaky. During the pogrom, the Sheikh lost three additional children to the ones murdered during President Jonathan’s regime. The government of Buhari has been trying to delude the public in to believing that the Islamic Movement in Nigeria is a violent movement by creating feral scenarios. Click here for more details.

#FreeZakzaky in Abuja on 20 August
20 August 2019
Sheikh Zakzaky’s followers were back on the streets in Apo, Garki, Abuja on 20th August, 2019.

#FreeZakzaky in Nigerian Capital Abuja
19 August 2019
Zakzaky’s followers back on the streets today 19/8/19 in Abuja demanding the release of their leader. Following are few pictures of the protest.

#FreeZakzaky Program in Germany
18 August 2019
#FreeZakzaky Activists gathered in Cologne to protest against the brutality of the Nigerian regime. Click here for more pictures.

Background to the Sheikh El-Zakzaky ongoing 2015 case
17 August 2019
Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky is the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria.  This page contains links and summary background to key questions about him, the movement and the IHRC campaigns for him and members of the movement whose rights have been violated. Click here to read about the background of the on going case.

VIDEOS

How Sheikh Zakzaky Responded to Abusive Treatment
23 August 2019
Massoud Shadjareh discusses how Sheikh El-Zakzaky has responded to abusive treatment by Nigerian and Indian security forces with dignity.

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.

ARCHIVE

Click here to read the Ihrc report Human Rights Abuses in Nigeria: September 1996 – October 1997, Addendum

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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IHRC is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

Islamic Human Rights Commission
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Telephone (+44) 20 8904 4222
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The opinions expressed in this email do not necessarily reflect the views of IHRC