Members of the violent Islamist sect, Boko Haram, may soon be dragged
to The Hague to face war crimes as the International Criminal Court
(ICC) on Monday indicted the sect for crime against humanity for its
widespread and systematic murder and persecution of civilians.
The report titled “Situation in Nigeria” says there is reasonably
basis that since July 2009, the group that aims to spread radical Islam
in Northern Nigeria has committed crime against humanity.
After this indictment, the ICC says the next step is to assess
whether Nigerian government is working on “conducting genuine
proceedings in relation to those who appear to bear the greatest
responsibility for such crimes and the gravity of such crimes.”
The ICC investigation may run into trouble with the Nigerian
government, as the federal government has constituted a committee
negotiating peace and amnesty with the sect.
The ICC, however, has the power to prosecute cases that national
courts of signatory nations are unwilling or unable to investigate or
prosecute.
Nigeria ratified the ICC statute on September 27, 2001 giving the court
jurisdiction to over crimes committed within Nigeria from 1 July 2002.
The report highlights various attacks on civilian population by the
sect. It also described these attacks as systematic and widespread
spanning over the entire North Eastern region as well as Plateau, Kogi,
Kano, Bauchi and Kaduna States.
True to the sect’s aim of Islamising the north, churches were singled
out for constant attacks, the report noted. The report also concludes
that the planning of this attacks shows they are products of
organisational policy therefore qualifying them as crimes against
humanity.
On the violence in the Niger Delta and confrontation between Movement
for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and security forces, the
report says there “does not appear to be a reasonable basis to believe
that the alleged crimes committed in the Delta Region could constitute
war crimes.”
It however says the situation may be revisited in the light of fresh facts and evidence.
On alleged crimes committed by soldiers fighting the Boko Haram,
while the report acknowledges that serious human rights violations may
have been committed, it concludes that they do not constitute crime
against humanity.
“Information available as of December 2012 does not provide a
reasonable basis to believe that the alleged crimes were committed
pursuant to or in furtherance of a State or organizational policy to
attack the civilian population,” it said.
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