{"id":11396,"date":"2019-09-15T22:37:29","date_gmt":"2019-09-15T22:37:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/ng\/?p=5762"},"modified":"2019-09-15T22:37:29","modified_gmt":"2019-09-15T22:37:29","slug":"damning-report-nigeria-military-holding-children-as-boko-haram-suspects-human-rights-watch-thousands-of-adolescents-held-in-deplorable-conditions-many-detained-without-charge-for-months-or","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/damning-report-nigeria-military-holding-children-as-boko-haram-suspects-human-rights-watch-thousands-of-adolescents-held-in-deplorable-conditions-many-detained-without-charge-for-months-or\/","title":{"rendered":"DAMNING REPORT: ‘NIGERIA Military holding CHILDREN as Boko Haram Suspects’-Human Rights Watch …Thousands of adolescents held in Deplorable conditions *Many detained without charge for months or years in squalid, severely overcrowded military barracks, with no contact with the outside world *Children described heart-breaking woes of beatings, overwhelming heat, frequent hunger and being packed tightly in their cells with hundreds of other detainees *Giwa Military Barracks in Maiduguri is Nigeria’s army most notorious torture chamber for Raping, Sexually molesting under-age girls * Inside Document: ‘Fifteen of the children had been detained for more than a year, and some had been held for more than three years. None had been allowed to contact family members outside the detention center, nor had the authorities contacted their families’ * ‘The children said that Giwa has a cell for boys under 18 with children as young as 7, or even younger’ * \u201cChildren are being detained in horrific conditions for years, with little or no evidence of involvement with Boko Haram, and without even being taken to court\u201d-Jo Becker, children\u2019s rights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch *Awaiting Nigerian Military\u2019s response as at press time BY CHARLES OGBEDE, SPECIAL CRIME EDITOR & GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU\/AMERICAN FOREIGN BUREAU CHIEF"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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DAMNING\nREPORT:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘NIGERIA\nMilitary holding CHILDREN as Boko Haram Suspects’-Human\nRights Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

…Thousands\nof adolescents held in Deplorable conditions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Many\ndetained without charge for months or years in squalid, severely\novercrowded military barracks, with no contact with the outside world<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Children\ndescribed heart-breaking woes of beatings, overwhelming heat,\nfrequent hunger and being packed tightly in their cells with hundreds\nof other detainees<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Giwa\nMilitary Barracks in Maiduguri is Nigeria’s army most notorious\ntorture chamber for Raping, Sexually<\/strong>\nmolesting under-age girls<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*\nInside Document: ‘Fifteen of the children had been detained for more\nthan a year, and some had been held for more than three years. None\nhad been allowed to contact family members outside the detention\ncenter, nor had the authorities contacted their families’<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*\n‘The children said that Giwa has a cell for boys under 18 with\nchildren as young as 7, or even younger’<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*\n\u201cChildren are being detained in horrific conditions for years, with\nlittle or no evidence of involvement with Boko Haram, and without\neven being taken to court\u201d-Jo\nBecker<\/a>,\nchildren\u2019s rights\nadvocacy director at Human Rights Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Awaiting\nNigerian Military\u2019s response as at press time<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY\nCHARLES OGBEDE, SPECIAL CRIME EDITOR & GEORGE ELIJAH\nOTUMU\/AMERICAN FOREIGN BUREAU CHIEF<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

HUMAN\nRIGHTS WATCH, A GLOBAL BODY THAT INVESTIGATES AND REPORTS ON ABUSES\nHAPPENING IN ALL CORNERS OF THE WORLD HAS CONDEMNED THE NIGERIAN\nMILITARY FOR REPEATED HUMAN RIGHT ABUSES, GROSS VIOLATION TO LIFE\nACCESS AS contained in its 50-page detailed latest report on Nigeria\nwhere it detailed various crimes allegedly committed by the armed\nforces under the guise of ‘clamping down on Boko Haram activities in\nBorno State.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According\nto this shocking report, it revealed that the Nigerian\nmilitary arbitrarily detained thousands of children in degrading and\ninhuman conditions for suspected involvement with the armed Islamist\ngroup Boko Haram. Human Rights Watch said many children are held\nwithout charge for months or years in squalid and severely\novercrowded military barracks, with no contact with the outside\nworld. <\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\n50-page report, \u201c\u2018<\/a><\/strong>They\nDidn\u2019t Know if I Was Alive or Dead\u2019: Military Detention of\nChildren for Suspected Boko Haram Involvement in Northeast Nigeria<\/a>,\u201d\ndocuments how Nigerian authorities are detaining children, often\nbased on little or no evidence. Children described beatings,\noverwhelming heat, frequent hunger, and being packed tightly in their\ncells with hundreds of other detainees \u201clike razorblades in a\npack,\u201d as one former detainee said.\n<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChildren\nare being detained in horrific conditions for years, with little or\nno evidence of involvement with Boko Haram, and without even being\ntaken to court,\u201d said\nJo\nBecker<\/a>,\nchildren\u2019s\nrights advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. \u201cMany of these\nchildren already survived attacks by Boko Haram. The authorities\u2019\ncruel treatment adds to their suffering and victimizes them further.\u201d\n<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giving\na data sequential evidence on this report, Human Rights Watch stated\nthat between January 2013 and March 2019, Nigerian armed forces\ndetained over 3,600 children, including 1,617 girls, for suspected\ninvolvement with non-state armed groups, according to the UN. Many\nare detained at Giwa military barracks in Maiduguri, the main\nmilitary detention facility in Borno State.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nigerian\nauthorities have released at least 2,200 children from detention,\nnearly all without charge. According to the UN, 418\nchildren were detained in 2018<\/a>,\na\nsignificant decrease from 2017, when over 1,900 children were\ndetained. Human Rights Watch does not know the number of children who\nmay be currently detained.\n<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On\nhow to end this crisis, Becker said: \u201cThe Nigerian government\nshould sign and put into effect a United Nations handover protocol to\nensure the swift transfer of children apprehended by the military to\nchild protection authorities for rehabilitation, family\nreunification, and community reintegration. Other countries in the\nregion, including Chad, Mali, and Niger, have already signed such\nprotocols.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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