5 September 1997

On October 24th to the 27th, the Commonwealth heads of government (CHOGM) will be meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland. Among the matters that they will deliberate over will be whether Nigeria should remain in the Commonwealth or not.

The government of General Sani Abacha was suspended from the commonwealth in November 1995 when, despite calls for clemency and mounting evidence of a travesty of justice, nine opponents of the military were executed. The nine included the leader of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Ken Saro-Wiwa. All those executed were in the forefront of the struggle to oppose the environmental degradation that was being wrought by multinational oil companies in Nigeria, and the military dictatorship which had effectively reduced Nigeria to a jail and its citizens prisoners to the dictatorship.

In suspending Nigeria, CHOGM agreed further: "That if no demonstrable progress was made towards the fulfilment of these conditions (democratisation and respect for human rights/release of political prisoners) within a time frame (of two years), Nigeria would be expelled from the association."

In March 1996, the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), which was tasked with advising the commonwealth on appropriate action it should take against Nigeria, noted that notwithstanding the holding of non-party local elections in March 1996 and other steps, the general human rights situation in the country had continued to deteriorate. The Group added that no concrete efforts were being made by the Nigerian government either to engage pro-democracy groups in genuine dialogue or release political prisoners including Chief Moshood Abiola, as recommended by the heads of government of the Commonwealth.

Over the past two years, the human rights situation in Nigeria (and particularly in Ogoni, which is still under military occupation) has been documented as continuing to deteriorate, and the talk about national reconciliation remains a sham. This year marked the third year of Abiola’s incarceration, while Generals Obasanjo, Shehu Yar’adu, Dr Beko Ransome Kuti and forty others convicted by a military tribunal and jailed for an alleged coup plot are yet to regain their freedom. Abacha has not only ignored specific calls both from CHOGM and other groups for the release of Abiola and others, he has continued to arrest and detain other prominent activists and politicians. Earlier this year, in what was clearly a political move aimed at discrediting the opposition and justifying the continued incarceration of some, Abacha charged 15 prominent opposition figures, including exiled writer Wole Soyinka, with treason. The once robust independent press of Nigeria has been driven virtually underground as journalists run the gauntlet of arbitrary arrest or official harassment.

The South African Nigerian Democracy Support Group does not believe that the expulsion of Nigeria from the Commonwealth will mean the liberty of Nigerian citizens from military dictatorship.  We believe the solution lies with the people of Nigeria themselves and the extent to which they are able to collectively influence and control the governance of their country and seek popular solutions to the political, economic, socio-cultural and other historical problems facing their nation. The expulsion of Nigeria from the Commonwealth will give great effect to the movement and struggle towards this end. Apart from sending a clear message of disapproval of the human rights situation in Nigeria, it will send a clear message to Abacha that he is not representative of the Nigerian people, but only representative of himself and his military elite. It will further be a clear signal to the people of Nigeria that the international community is indeed aware of and concerned about their plight and will not tolerate the situation where one-fifth of all African people are prisoners in their own country.

Our colleagues and comrades in Nigeria and those in exile have urged us to call on our government to vote in support of Nigeria being expelled from the commonwealth. South Africa to date has been playing a juggling game on the question of Nigeria. In 1995, President Mandela came out strongly against Abacha and urged Nigeria’s suspension from the commonwealth. Of late, however, President Mandela has been referring to Abacha as "my brother". Our ambassador to the United Nations, Jacob Selebi, played a very instrumental role in getting a UN Special Rapporteur on Nigeria appointed in April this year, but our government continues to grant legitimacy to the Abacha regime. Despite consistent calls from the Support Group for the denial of visas to all Nigerian military officials, President Mandela has received at least two delegations from Abacha in the past two months. In a meeting with our High Commissioner to Nigeria, George Nene, in June this year the Support Group was disturbed to learn of his position on the Abacha "transition programme" as a fait accompli.

South Africa more than ever needs to come clean and make a clear stand on Abacha. We cannot allow a situation where Abacha is able to seek legitimacy and even tacit approval from our government. More over, we can no longer tolerate a situation where human rights abuses on the scale committed by Abacha goes without censure from within Africa and where despots such as Abacha portray themselves as "great sons of Afrika" when in fact they are the killers and jailers of African people. Abacha must go, and every little action that can lead to this must be undertaken. Nothing has changed in Nigeria - except for the worse!

We urge you send faxes to President Mandela and our Foreign Affairs representatives THIS WEEK and EVERY MONDAY until the week of the CHOGM summit in Scotland. CMAG will be meeting on Wednesday September 10 (South Africa is part of CMAG) to finalise its recommendation on Nigeria that it will take to CHOGM. We urgently need to call on our representatives to speak out in defence of the people of Nigeria and ensure that Abacha is expelled from the Commonwealth.

We call on you to make to the following recommendations:

1. Consistent with the decision of CHOGM, if between now (November 1995) and the Edinburgh CHOGM:
 * political prisoners including Chief Abiola, General Obasanjo and others imprisoned for an alleged coup attempt, and the Ogoni 21 are not released;
* the military occupation and brutality in Ogoni do not cease;

Nigeria should be expelled from the commonwealth AND IN ADDITION the various measures proposed by CMAG in April this year be imposed.

2. In the event of compliance with the bench marks in 1 above, and pending 3 below - the current suspension should be extended, backed by sanctions including, but not limited to the following:
*visa restrictions on members of the military regime and their families;
*withdrawal of military attaches;
*cessation of military training;
*embargo on export of arms;
*ban on all sporting contracts;
*downgrading of all cultural links;
*downgrading of diplomatic missions;

3. If between the Edinburgh CHOGM and the middle of next year:

- all decrees curtailing due process and fundamental rights in the country are not repealed,

- genuine efforts at national reconciliation through the setting up of a national government headed by Chief Abiola, which will be charged with the primary responsibility, amongst others, of convening a sovereign national conference to patch the wounds of the past and decide on the way forward, are not put in place;

a further incremental regime of sanctions including, but not limited to:

* a freeze on financial assets and bank accounts in all Commonwealth countries of members of the regime, their families and collaborators,
* ban on the export of support equipment for the oil industry;
*action against credits, action to prevent new investment including banking loans;

should be imposed.

4. If after a year from the October Summit in Edinburgh, a genuine democratic civilian administration on the basis of a truly democratic government is not in place on the platform of a constitution that should be the outcome of the national conference so conveyed, an oil embargo should be imposed.
 

Attached is a letter by the Support Group that we will be sending to President Mandela and our foreign affairs representatives. We urge you to either copy this letter onto your letter or draft your own letters and send them to:

President Nelson R Mandela
Fax: (012) 323-8246
        (021) 461-4987

The Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr Alfred B Nzo
Fax: (012) 351 0253
        (021) 456 548

The Deputy Director General for Multilateral Affairs
Mr Abdul Minty
Fax: (012) 351 1502
 

If you wish to be on an e-mail mailing list for further information or actions on Nigeria please reply to: fxi@wn.apc.org . For more information on the Nigerian campaign visit the Earthlife Africa Website at: http://www.earthlife.org.za . To view some of the statements and letters issued by the Support Group in 1996 and 1997, visit the Press Releases section on the Freedom of Expression Institute’s website.