For Immediate Release:

U.K. Turns a Blind Eye to Electoral Violence in Nigeria

(London, May 2, 2003) — The United Kingdom government has failed to
denounce incidents of violence and intimidation that occurred in several
areas of Nigeria during the elections of April 12 and 19, Human Rights
Watch said today in a letter to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued a press release this week
welcoming the “relative calm in which the elections took place.”

“In a situation where we have seen serious violence, with deaths and
injuries, it is extraordinary for the British government to talk of
‘calm,’” said Steve Crawshaw, London Director of Human Rights Watch.

Human Rights Watch criticized the U.K. press release for failing to
reflect the climate that prevailed in several southern and southeastern
states of Nigeria, where violence and intimidation by armed thugs
sponsored by political parties prevented many voters from going to the
polls. The press release also failed to take into account the widespread
violence across Nigeria in the months leading up to the elections.

“The U.K. government, as one of Nigeria’s most important Western
partners, should urge the Nigerian government to put an end to the
impunity, which has protected perpetrators of political violence,” said
Crawshaw. “This could help prevent further violence during the May 3
elections for state houses of assembly and local government elections
provisionally scheduled for June.”

The letter to Straw can be found at
http://hrw.org/press/2003/05/nigerial050203ltr.htm.

For more information, please contact:
In London, Carina Tertsakian: +44-207-713-2783
In Washington D.C., Karen Stauss: +1-202-612-4343

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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/