For Immediate Release:

Nigeria: Political Violence Increasing Before Elections

(New York, January 29, 2003) - The Nigerian government is doing far too
little to prevent a wave of political violence in the pre-election
period, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today.

In April and early May, Nigeria is planning to hold elections for
national and state office, hoping for the first successful
civilian-to-civilian transfer of power since independence in 1960.

Some Nigerian officials have publicly condemned the rising political
violence. The fifteen-page briefing paper, "Nigeria at the Crossroads:
Human Rights Concerns in the Pre-Election Period," documents how
politicians across Nigeria have used violence as a tool to acquire or
retain political support, wealth and influence. It is based in part on
research conducted by Human Rights Watch in Nigeria in December 2002.

"A successful transfer of power means more than just keeping the country
from falling apart," said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of the
Africa division at Human Rights Watch. "It means that voters must be
protected from intimidation and violence aimed at silencing their
voices. It means that candidates must be able to stand for office
without fear of bloodshed."

Many politicians have taken advantage of rampant poverty and
unemployment to recruit young men, who intimidate and even kill their
opponents or opponents' supporters. For example, in Kwara state,
supporters of the governor and the leading gubernatorial candidate have
been in conflict, leading to the killing of a state party chairman in
August 2002 and the bombing of a newspaper office in November 2002.

Some of the worst violence took place during the primaries of the ruling
People's Democratic Party (PDP), particularly in the oil-producing state
of Bayelsa, in the south. Politically-motivated killings and other
attacks have occurred in many other areas, including the southeast and
the southwest. In central and northern states, some politicians have
used religion and ethnicity to galvanize political support or
opposition, stirring up sentiments that could spark further communal
violence in Nigeria, as evidenced by the so-called Miss World riots in
Kaduna in November 2002.

Most of the cases of political violence remain unresolved. Although the
police have made some arrests, prosecutions are rare. "Impunity is
encouraging ruthless politicians to believe they can continue using
violence to silence their opponents," said Takirambudde.

The Human Rights Watch briefing paper also documents the status of
preparations for elections, and makes recommendations to the Nigerian
government and the international community on how to help prevent
political violence and ensure that the elections are free of human
rights abuses.

"People in Nigeria have proven they are eager to vote and participate,"
said Takirambudde. "But many may still be left out, either because of
the bungling of preparations by the electoral commission, or because of
outright intimidation and fraud by candidates."

While the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) recognition
of twenty-four new political parties in December 2002 was a welcome
development, INEC's January 17, 2003, announcement of very substantial
"processing fees" for each fielded candidate has presented a new
obstacle to the less established parties. In addition, despite
widespread complaints of violent intimidation and fraud in the first
voter registration exercise in September 2002, INEC has not fully
explained when and exactly how eligible voters can appeal their
exclusion from the voters' register. A short voter registration period
from January 21-23, which took place only in centralized locations,
seemed unlikely to resolve all of these cases, and the logistics of a
period of claims and objections planned for February remain unclear. The
timing of local elections, originally scheduled for April 2002, also has
yet to be finalized.

Human Rights Watch urged foreign governments and international
organizations to mobilize observer delegations at least several weeks in
advance of elections to monitor conduct in the pre-election period when
violence is likely to be most intense, and to continue to support
Nigerian groups who will undertake the bulk of the monitoring work.

"Nigeria has emerged as a leader in international fora like the New
Partnership for African Development (NEPAD), which is trying to
emphasize the importance of good governance and respect for human
rights," said Takirambudde. "But to maintain its credibility there,
Nigeria needs to prove it is willing and able to deal with human rights
violations at home, including political violence."

The briefing paper is available online at
http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/nigeriaelection.pdf.

For further information, please contact:

In London, Carina Tertsakian: +44-20-7713-2783
In New York, Peter Takirambudde: +1-212-216-1834
In Nigeria (until Feb. 19), Karen Stauss: +234-803-349-1001

--
Jeff Scott
Africa Division
Human Rights Watch
Phone: +1-212-216-1834
Fax: +1-212-736-1300
http://www.hrw.org/africa/index.php
en français, http://www.hrw.org/french/africa/