7 March 1996
The South African Nigerian Democratic Support Group (SANDSG) notes with
concern the Nigerian military junta’s continued imprisonment of 19 Ogoni
activists. The men were arrested in the first half of last year and
one of them has already died in prison. They have been charged with
murder and will be tried by a special military tribunal - the very same
court that tried and sentenced to death the late Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight
other human rights activists last year. This military tribunal has
proven to be a travesty of justice. The 19 have been denied crucial
rights of defence, including their rights to be safeguarded from torture,
ill-treatment or improper duress and to have full and confidential access
to their defence lawyers. They were supposed to have appeared for
the first time before the court last month, but this didn’t take place.
It’s believed they are being held in Port Harcourt Prison in inhumane conditions
and are also being denied access to medical treatment.
The 19 men were detained solely for their non-violent expression of
outrage against the destruction of their environment by the multinational
oil corporations and the Nigerian dictatorship. There are currently
45 activists of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP)
on a wanted list of the Nigerian security forces and over 80 000 Ogoni
have been classified as internal refugees. Ogoni people have suffered
rape, torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, extra-judiciary murder and
indiscriminate shootings at the hands of the 7000 Nigerian military troops
occupying Ogoniland. This situation seems unlikely to change while
the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha remains. He has
shown no willingness to use peaceful means towards resolving any of the
Ogoni’s legitimate demands. These demands include the release of
all political prisoners and a halt to all destructive oil and mining operations
in the region.
In view of the Abacha regime’s continued disregard for the environmental,
human, and democratic rights of the Nigerian people, and the people of
Ogoniland in particular, the SANDSG wishes to stress the need to end this
vicious cycle of destruction of our continent by power crazed and money
hungry dictators.
A clear message needs to be sent to the Abacha regime indicating
our outrage at his contempt for peace and that at no stage will the South
African people tolerate human rights violations such as the scale perpetrated
by his illegitimate regime. The South African government must
be prepared to act swiftly to isolate the Abacha regime should he defy
worldwide calls for clemency for the 19 Ogoni activists or at least not
reform the trial procedures in accordance with internationally accepted
standards.
The SANDSG CALLS ON:
- The South African government to re-emphasise the urgent need for
punitive oil and economic sanctions against the Nigerian military junta;
- The South African government to use all available methods to exert
pressure on the Organisation of African Unity, the Commonwealth of Nations
and the United Nations to intervene to save the lives of the 19 Ogoni activists;
- The South African High Commissioner to Lagos, Mr George Nene,
to intervene to save the lives of the 19 Ogoni trialists;
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT WILLIE NWIIDO AT (011)
836-5853 OR RICHARD SHERMAN AT (011) 728-2558 OR (011) 477-4653.