US Govt Condemns Boko Haram Amnesty Committee Approach, Considers Designating Nigeria As CPC Thursday, 22 August 2013 12:44 AHmed Musa User Rating: / 0PoorBest The United States government has said that the Nigerian government had failed in its efforts to combat insecurity in the country, stressing that all the attacks made by Boko Haram on innocent citizens in the North were religiously motivated. This latest outburst was contained in the 2013 report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), a copy which was made available to our correspondent in Washington, DC. This Fact-sheet documents titled: "Boko Haram attacks from July 2012 to July 2013" states that the terrorist group had become the primary perpetrator of religiously- related violence and gross religious freedom violations in Nigeria. "The Nigerian government’s failure to address chronic religion-related violence contrasts with its commitment to stop Boko Haram, which at times has resulted in the indiscriminate use of force against civilians and in human rights abuses. Other religious freedom concerns in Nigeria include the application of a strict interpretation of Shari’ah (Islamic law) in the criminal codes of several northern Nigerian states and discrimination against local minority communities of Christians and Muslims. "In Nigeria, Religious freedom declined, primarily due to attacks by Boko Haram and despite government attempts to protect churches. The government continued to fail to prosecute perpetrators of religiously-related violence that has killed more than 14,000 Nigerians, both Christian and Muslim. "The government of Nigeria continues to tolerate systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom that lead to particularly severe violations affecting all Nigerians, both Christian and Muslim. For many years, the government has failed to bring those responsible for sectarian violence to justice, prevent and contain acts of such violence, or prevent reprisal attacks."The State Department’s most recent international religious freedom report found that the government did not act swiftly or effectively to stop communal violence or to bring to justice individuals who perpetrated violence. Federal, state, and local authorities in Nigeria have not effectively addressed underlying political, ethnic, and religious grievances leading to violence. A climate of impunity exists, as authorities rarely prosecute and punish those responsible for violent attacks. "As a result since 1999, more than 14,000 Nigerians have been killed in sectarian violence between Muslims and Christians. Boko Haram, a militant group that espouses an extreme and violent interpretation of Islam, benefits from this culture of impunity and lawlessness as it exploits MuslimChristian tensions to destabilize Nigeria. Boko Haram also justifies its attacks on churches by citing, among other things, state and federal government actions against Muslims" the report says. The reports goes further to allege that a climate of impunity existed in Nigeria due to the lack of effective law enforcement and failure to impose penalties for religious violence, adding that large-scale incidents regularly triggered ricochet riots in other areas for retaliation as a result of lack of consequences for violence or perpetrators. The reports also says: "The Nigerian government’s toleration of criminal acts has created a permissive environment for continued sectarian violence, leading to a culture of impunity. In USCIRF’s view, Nigeria has the capacity to address sectarian violence, and will only realize lasting progress, security, stability, and prosperity as a democracy if it does so. For these reasons, USCIRF recommends that the U.S. government designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern (CPC) for tolerating particularly severe violations of religious freedom, and press Nigeria to bring perpetrators of religiously-related violence to justice. AddThis Social Bookmark Button Add comment Name (required)
Posted on: Thu, 22 Aug 2013 20:57:16 +0000
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