ASF FRANCE Archives - CITY LAWYER MAGAZINE

EDITOR'S CHOICE
May 30, 2022
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ASF FRANCE SECURES RELEASE OF DETAINEE AFTER 11 YEARS

PRESS RELEASE

Following strategic litigation by Avocats Sans Frontières France (Lawyers without Borders France), a High Court in Lagos ordered the release of a young man who had been held in the Nigerian prison for over 11 years without trial.

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) data on the Summary of Inmate Population by Convict and Persons Awaiting Trial as of October 4, 2021, revealed that the facilities hold 37% more inmates than it is designed to and that over 70% of the prison population consists of pretrial detainees. The report also revealed that the average period of pre-trial detention in Nigeria was nearly four years. The work of ASF France in the field reveals that many detainees are held for much longer, as in this case of Maxwell Dele* who had been arbitrarily detained for over 11 years, reflecting both an overburdened justice system and structural problems between Nigeria’s state and federal justice systems.

In his case, officers of the Nigeria Police Force were on the hunt for a certain individual called Mr. James Idem* whom they believed was responsible for an armed robbery operation. Mr. Maxwell Dele happened to be a shop owner and neighbour to Mr. James in Ikorodu market, Lagos. During the search for Mr. James, Maxwell was asked by the police officers to provide information on the whereabouts of Mr. James and when Maxwell* couldn’t provide those answers, he was arrested for armed robbery.

Mr. Maxwell was handed over to the Sagamu Road Police Station, from where he was transferred to SARS Ikeja, Lagos where he was hanged and tortured. Maxwell Dele was also forced to sign an already written statement on the 6th of October 2011, the same day he was charged for armed robbery at the Magistrate Court 17, Ikeja, Lagos. Maxwell Dele remained in the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Kirikiri, Lagos and never appeared in court again for the next 11 years.

Avocats Sans Frontières France intervened in this case through the pro-bono legal aid component of its European Union (EU) & Agence Française de Développement (AFD) funded SAFE project – “Strengthening the National Actors Capacities and Advocating for Ending Severe Human Rights Violations in Nigeria project”, targeted at addressing human rights violations of torture, extra-judicial killings and arbitrary detention. ASF France tendered an application to the Lagos State High Court on behalf of the detainee, particularly seeking for the unconditional or conditional release, citing the instances of torture, violation of their fundamental human rights, their rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement, provided under the sections 35 and 41 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended. The application was successful at the High Court of Lagos State.

The Country Director of Avocats Sans Frontières France in Nigeria, Angela Uwandu Uzoma-Iwuchukwu speaking after the judgement said “Loosing 11 years of one’s life to a systemic irregularity is an unimaginable suffering, nothing would ever be able to make up for this loss. The practise of routinely charging suspects with serious offenses in order to have them remanded in prison indefinitely, with little or no effort to prosecute the case needs to stop”.

The SAFE project is being implemented in Nigeria by Avocats Sans Frontières France in partnership with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the Carmelite Prisoners Interest Organization (CAPIO).

Signed: Angela Uwandu Uzoma-Iwuchukwu

Country Director, ASF France Nigeria

For further enquiries please contact:

ASF France Communication Officer, Nigeria

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EDITOR'S CHOICE
Apr 19, 2022
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NBA, ASF FRANCE OFFER FREE LEGAL SERVICES TO 120 VICTIMS

Avocats Sans Frontières France (ASF France) and the Nigerian Bar Association have provided free legal services to 120 victims of human rights violations relating to torture, arbitrary detention and extra-judicial killings.

This was disclosed during a meeting organized by ASF FRANCE under the European Union and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) funded, “Strengthening the National Actors Capacities and Advocation for Ending Severe Human Rights Violations in Nigeria project” (SAFE) project. The project is targeted at addressing human rights violations in relation to torture, extra-judicial killings and arbitrary detention.

The one-day legal aid coordination meeting is the third Legal Aid Coordination Meeting organized in collaboration with NBA to foster ASF France mandate of promoting the enjoyment of human rights in Nigeria. It provided an opportunity for the project support lawyers to provide updates on the status of legal aid delivery in their respective states as regards the third year of the project. It also provided the opportunity for them to share experiences and exchange learning based on the cases being handled. The cases bother on provision of free legal assistance on the SAFE project to victims of torture and family members of victims of extra-judicial killings and arbitrary detentions.

The Country Director of ASF France, Angela Uwandu Uzoma-Iwuchukwu highlighted the importance of the engagement, saying “the legal aid coordination meeting is a very important avenue for us to re-evaluate our pro-bono legal aid processes and learn from each other towards improving the effectiveness of the legal aid component of the SAFE project”.

According to a statement made available to CITY LAWYER, the support lawyers delivered presentations on legal aid delivery under the SAFE project while recommendations were made to tackle the challenges highlighted by the support lawyers during their presentations.

The forum rounded off with deliberations aimed at improving results of the legal aid delivery component of the project. During the deliberations, Aïssatou Kumagangue, Project Officer at the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) commended the support lawyers, saying: “I am immensely proud of the pro-bono legal aid delivery of this project. Thank you for the silent but impactful work of you lawyers; please keep it up”. Esmé Stuart, Programme Manager, Human Rights and Gender, European Union (EU) also highlighted the importance of the legal aid component of the project, saying: “The legal aid component of this project helps to consolidate the outcomes of the entire project; we have to keep up the good work to ensure that we bring justice to where it is underserved.”

The SAFE project is implemented by Avocats Sans Frontières France in partnership with the Nigerian Bar Association and the Carmelite Prisoners’ Interest Organization. ASF France aims to sustain the impact of the Situation Room by virtually convening more frequently to monitor and review the implementation of the adopted strategies.

In attendance at the meeting were the SAFE project support lawyers, nominated NBA pro-bono lawyers, the NBA SAFE project focal person, and representative of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria.

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EDITOR'S CHOICE
Mar 13, 2022
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ASF FRANCE, PARTNERS HOST POLICE/CSO SITUATION ROOM

Avocats Sans Frontières France (Lawyers without Borders France), in collaboration with its partners, the Carmelite Prisoners Interest Organization (CAPIO) and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has hosted the second convening of the Police and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) Situation Room in Abuja. The event is in accordance with its mission of promoting human rights in Nigeria.

The programme served as a follow-up to the first convening of the situation room established exactly a year ago. The situation room was established under the auspices of the European Union (EU) and the Agence Française de Développement funded “Strengthening the National Actors Capacities and Advocating for an End to Severe Human Rights Violations in Nigeria Project” (SAFE), targeted at addressing issues of torture, ill treatment, extra-judicial killings and arbitrary detention in Nigeria.

In attendance at the second convening of the Police – CSOs situation room were 38 participants representing the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters, key CSOs working on justice sector reform in Nigeria like: Human Rights Watch, Avocats Sans Frontières France, RULAAC, NOPRIN, CAPIO, CIRDDOC, WACOL, EWEI and NACTAL. Relevant government institutions like; the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACON), and the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMOJ) were also in attendance.

The objective of the meeting was to review the level of implementation of the collaboration set up between the Police and CSOs to drive reforms aimed at improving the status of human rights in the country, and accountability within the Police for human rights violation by its officers.

The representative of the European Union, Mr. Clément Boutillier, Head of Governance, Peace and Migration at the EU delegation to Nigeria & ECOWAS reinstated the commitment of EU to the SAFE project and for peace and security in Nigeria saying ‘Peace and Security are at the core of the EU’s partnership with Nigeria. Therefore, the EU is very interested in this situation room and its deliberations, as it creates a platform for CSOs and the Police to share their problems surrounding human rights, and jointly develop recommendations for implementation’. The Country Director of Avocats Sans Frontieres France, Angela Uwandu Uzoma-Iwuchukwu, in one of her contributions said “the police and the CSOs are working for the same cause, which is to promote and protect human rights, thus it is really important for us to continue working together to achieve success. This platform also ensures accountability in the work to improve the level of human rights enjoyment in the country”.

The Head of the Police-Complaints and Response Unit (P-CRU), ACP Markus Ishaku Basiran said at the meeting that the complaints received by the unit went down by 60% because of the twitter ban. The P-CRU explored other tools for receiving complaints from the public, such as phone calls and Instagram. However, they were not as effective as Twitter. With the lifting of the ban, it is anticipated that the complaints and response component of the unit will be reinvigorated.

The deliberations at the second convening of the Police-CSOs meeting produced key recommendations which were adopted for further action. The recommendations include:

Improved sensitization of officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force on human rights standards and the Anti-torture Act (2017) for better implementation.

The need for the Police to also sensitize members of the public on their fundamental human rights and techniques to identify and escalate human rights abuses by police officers and other security agencies.

The need for the P-CRU to establish physical presence in other states of the country for improved access, response and coordination.

The need for the P-CRU to invest in initiatives that widely sensitize the public on its availability and mandates, such as radio campaigns and tours, adverts, and dissemination of other key media visibility materials.

The need for the current police app for reporting crimes and human rights abuse to be tweaked to support other features that improve evidence-based real-time reporting such as live streaming. The app should also be widely publicized for improved usage.

The need for CSOs to prioritize the strengthening of the police force and the P-CRU through fundraising and visibility-based initiatives.

Coalition of CSOs must amplify voices for the demand of accountability in the work of protecting and promoting human rights.

Investigation rooms of the police force needs to be equipped with recent cutting-edge technology that makes influences the officers to rely on international standards of investigation and interrogation.

The mainstreaming of the Anti-torture Act (2017) and human rights principles in the curriculum of the Police Training Colleges.

According to Angela Uwandu Uzoma-Iwuchukwu, Country Director, ASF France Nigeria, “ASF France aims to sustain the impact of the situation room by virtually convening more frequently to monitor and review the implementation of the strategies adopted.”

EDITOR'S CHOICE
Dec 31, 2021
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ENDSARS: ASF FRANCE HOLDS PARLEY ON POLICE REFORMS

As part of its activities to mark the International Human Rights Day 2021, Avocats Sans Frontières France in Nigeria recently convened a stakeholders’ roundtable meeting on Human Rights in Abuja. The meeting provided an opportunity for stakeholders in the human rights sector in Nigeria to deliberate on key issues and proffer solutions aimed at improving the enjoyment of human rights in the country.

The roundtable which was themed “#EndSARS: The Role of CSOs in Driving Police Reforms” was aimed at exploring methodologies for driving police reforms in the aftermath of the #EndSARS, a nationwide protest targeted towards ending human rights abuse by the Police in Nigeria.

According to Angela Uwandu Uzoma-Iwuchukwu, Country Director, ASF France Nigeria, the meeting was organized under the auspices of the “Promoting the United Nations Convention against Torture” (ProCAT) project with the financial support of the German Embassy in Nigeria and the United Nations Voluntary funds for victims of torture.

Constituting the roundtable were representatives from the Nigeria Police, Nigerian Correction Service, Nigerian Security Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigerian Army (NA), Nigerian Air Force (NAF), the Department of State Security (DSS), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACON), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), related Civil Society Organisations and media organisations.

Recommendations were proffered to the human rights issues raised. Stakeholders emphasised the need for continuous momentum in the human rights struggle until success is achieved. Some of the insightful recommendations made by stakeholders in response to the human rights issues raised are as follows:

1) There should be increased collaboration between the CSOs and the security agencies.

2) The need for strict implementation of disciplinary measures against security officers found guilty of torture, including demotion in rank to serve as a deterrent to other officers.

3) The need for an effective follow-up on judgements passed in favour of torture victims to ensure and enforce 100% compliance of judgement.

4) There should be increased efforts towards training of junior officers regarding the use of torture and the implementation of the Anti-torture Act (2017).

5) The need for the use of databases and technology in criminal data retention for better prosecution of offenders and a more efficient justice system.

6) There should be better cooperation from security agencies during civil unrest and protests as this falls under the fundamental human rights of citizens.

7) The need to make officers understand that when they torture, they do not act on behalf of the government, they act on their own accord and are fully liable for their actions.

8) The need to mass-produce and distribute the Anti-torture act to widen its reach and implementation.

9) The need for rigorous sensitization, seminars, and workshop for state-actors against the use of torture.

10) There is a need to improve the welfare of police officers to ensure adequate behaviour from the police officers. There is also a need to increase budgetary allocation for the police force to cater for improvement in facilities and technology for better service delivery.

11) The need to put in structures and initiatives geared towards the effective implementation of the Anti-torture ACT (2017)

12) Increase the pressure on the AG for the effective implementation of the Anti-torture Act.

13) The need to empower security agencies with adequate equipment to proper carry out constitutional duties instead of resorting to torture.

14) The need for psychosocial support for security officers, especially during the onboarding process after graduation from training schools/facilities.

15) The need for removal of bureaucratic bottlenecks in the modus operandi of the Police Public Complaints & Response Unit (PCRU) for effective action against guilty officers.

16) The need to reward police units and officers with less torture cases to serve as examples to other security agencies.

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag. To ADVERTISE in CITY LAWYER, please email citylawyermag@gmail.com or call 08138380083. All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

EDITOR'S CHOICE
Jun 03, 2021
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Comments Off on ASF FRANCE SECURES RELEASE OF 3 DETAINEES AFTER 8 YEARS IN CUSTODY

ASF FRANCE SECURES RELEASE OF 3 DETAINEES AFTER 8 YEARS IN CUSTODY

The Avocats Sans Frontières France (ASF France) has secured the release of three suspects detained for about eight years in Lagos State. According to a statement by Angela Uwandu, the Head of Office of Avocats Sans Frontières France, the victims are beneficiaries of ASF France’s pro bono legal aid, on the wings of the European Union and AFD funded “Strengthening the National Actors Capacities and Advocation for Ending Severe Human Rights Violations in Nigeria project” (SAFE) project.

Condemning a system which subjects suspects to prolonged pre-trial detention, Uwandu said: “No justice system should subject anyone to 8 years awaiting trial. It is simply a failure of the system and a gross violation of the rights of citizens.”

Meanwhile, ASF France in collaboration with its local partners, the Carmelite Prisoners Interest Organisation (CAPIO) and the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), also held trainings for security agencies, media and CSOs in Lagos State. Said Uwandu: “The insightful trainings were on the wings of the “Strengthening the National Actors Capacities and Advocation for Ending Severe Human Rights Violations in Nigeria project” (SAFE), funded by the European Union and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), which is targeted at addressing human rights violations of torture, extra-judicial killings and arbitrary detention.

“The training for security agencies on human rights took place on the 24th – 26th of May, 2021. The 3-day training aimed at bridging the knowledge gap of security agencies on Human Rights laws and standards had in attendance 27 security personnel drawn from the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), Nigerian Army (NA), the Department of State Security (DSS), Nigerian Airforce (NAF), NCDC (Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps), Corrections Service, Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and Immigrations.”

The statement on the freed detainees is below:

As part of its efforts in promoting the enjoyment of Human Rights in Nigeria, Avocats Sans Frontières France (ASF France), has successfully enforced the fundamental human rights of three victims of arbitrary detention in Lagos state. The victims are beneficiaries of ASF France’s pro bono legal aid, on the wings of the European Union and AFD funded “Strengthening the National Actors Capacities and Advocation for Ending Severe Human Rights Violations in Nigeria project” (SAFE) project.

The cases of Mr. Adewale F, Mr. Ifekoya S and Mr. Kola A were all handled between the months of September 2020 and December 2020. The striking similarity amongst the three (3) cases is that all beneficiaries had been arbitrarily detained for over 8 years, with Mr. Kola spending the most (over 9 years) in arbitrary detention.

Mr. Adewale had gone to the Police station to report a case of theft which occurred when some women were confronting him on the issue of a missing child. He was arrested because the women made a counter-report against him, accusing him of being in possession of the missing child. Mr. Adewale couldn’t afford the finances required to process his bail, thus he was transferred to SARS Office at Lagos State Police Command Headquarters, Ikeja and was then charged with armed robbery and remanded in custody. Mr. Adewale had never appeared in Court since 20/05/2013.

Similarly, in the case of Mr. Ifekoya, who was accused of failure to prevent a felony. He had given a lift to a friend who was wanted by the Police. Mr. Ifekayo couldn’t produce his friend when requested by the Police. He was then remanded in Kirikiri Medium Security Custodial Centre since 2012. The third detainee, Mr. Kola, was also remanded in the same custody since 2012 without trial until ASF France’s intervention.

ASF France, tendered separate applications to the Lagos State High Court on behalf of the 3 detainees, particularly seeking for the unconditional or conditional release, citing the violation of their fundamental human rights, their rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement, provided under the sections 35 and 41 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.

All three applications were successful at the Lagos State High Court. In one of the judgments delivered by the Judge, Justice O.O. Abike-Fadipe, she said “No amount of money can compensate for 8 years of one’s life.”

While commending the Judges for the Rulings, Angela Uwandu, the Head of Office of Avocats Sans Frontières France said, “no justice system should subject anyone to 8 years awaiting trial. It is simply a failure of the system and a gross violation of the rights of citizens.” The arbitrariness of these detentions entitles the victims to a remedy and this is what the ASF France legal team has achieved in this case. Avocats Sans Frontières France celebrates these victories, and recognizes them as a step forward for rule of law and human rights protection in Nigeria.

The SAFE project is co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and is being implemented by Avocats Sans Frontières France in Nigeria, in partnership with the Nigerian Bar Association and the Carmelite Prisoners’ Interest Organization.

Copyright 2020 CITY LAWYER. Please send emails to citylawyermag@gmail.com. Join us on Facebook at https://web.facebook.com/City-Lawyer-Magazine-434937936684320 and on TWITTER at https://twitter.com/CityLawyerMag. To ADVERTISE in CITY LAWYER, please email citylawyermag@gmail.com or call 08138380083. All materials available on this Website are protected by copyright, trade mark and other proprietary and intellectual property laws. You may not use any of our intellectual property rights without our express written consent or attribution to www.citylawyermag.com. However, you are permitted to print or save to your individual PC, tablet or storage extracts from this Website for your own personal non-commercial use.

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