A/HRC/7/3/Add.4
page 2
Summary
The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment undertook a visit to Nigeria from 4 to 10 March 2007. The visit included stops in
Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kaduna. He expresses his appreciation to the Government for
the cooperation it extended to him.
The Special Rapporteur welcomes Nigeria’s commitment to promoting respect for human
rights, as demonstrated by, among other things, its record of cooperation with international
human rights mechanisms and organizations. He appreciates the challenges the State faces given
the sheer size and diversity of the population, including ethno-linguistic and religious groups,
the plurality of legal systems, the nature of the federal structure, the high level of crime,
widespread poverty (despite the potential enormous wealth from oil revenues), and the conflict
in the Niger Delta.
On the basis of an analysis of the legal system, visits to detention facilities, interviews with
detainees, the support of forensic medical evidence, and interviews with government officials,
lawyers and representatives of NGOs, the Special Rapporteur concluded that torture and
ill-treatment is widespread in police custody, and particularly systemic in the Criminal
Investigation Departments. In a vivid first-hand account, the circumstances surrounding the
deaths of the two persons personally interviewed by the Special Rapporteur - examples of
serious torture, disappearance and extrajudicial killing - illustrate and confirm the inability of the
current system to effectively investigate allegations, protect victims of serious human rights
violations, and bring law enforcement officials in Nigeria to account.
The conditions of detention in police cells visited were appalling. All the prisons visited
were characterized by severe overcrowding, consisting of an inmate population which is
typically double or triple the actual capacity of the facility. The vast majority of detainees are
held in detention awaiting trial or held without charge for lengthy periods, as long as 10 years.
However, female prisoners are provided with considerably better facilities.
The Special Rapporteur notes that corporal punishment, such as caning, and including
sharia penal code punishments of the northern states (i.e. amputation, flogging and stoning to
death), remain lawful in Nigeria. He recalls that any form of corporal punishment is contrary to
the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Under
international law, they are not lawful sanctions and violate the international human rights treaties
to which Nigeria is a party.
Noting that capital punishment is still available under the laws of Nigeria, the Special
Rapporteur is encouraged by the policy of President Obasanjo not to carry out executions.
However, he expresses concern that persons continue to be sentenced to death, contributing to
the growing numbers of persons languishing on death row for many years in conditions that are
inhuman.