Amnesty
International on Wednesday said it had “huge concerns” about the mass trials of
Boko Haram suspects, with press and the public banned from the hearings on
security grounds.
Proceedings began this week at
four civilian courts set up at a military base in Kainji, in central Niger
state, with 1,669 suspects due to appear before judges.
The government has said 651
others held in the northeastern city of Maiduguri will be tried once the cases
in Kainji are finished.
Amnesty’s Nigeria’s
director, Osai Ojigho, said the trials “should provide a much-needed
opportunity to deliver justice” for those affected by the long-running
conflict.
“However, the fact the
trials are taking place behind closed doors, with no access for the media or
the public, raises huge concerns,” he added in a statement.
“Public hearings are crucial
for protecting an individual’s right to a fair trial and due process.”
Three hundred suspects were
officially remanded in custody for 90 days on Tuesday while one defendant was
transferred for trial elsewhere.
Nigeria has promised that
every defendant will have legal representation.
Rights groups have
repeatedly accused Nigeria’s military of arbitrarily arresting thousands of
civilians since the start of the Islamist insurgency in 2009.
Detainees have in many cases
been held for years in unsanitary, overcrowded conditions without access to
lawyers or ever having appeared in court.
Hundreds of people,
including young children picked up with their parents, have been released
without charge.
Ojigho said of those at
Kainji: “In instances where no prima facie case has been established… detainees
should be immediately released.”
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