HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSE AND VIOLATIONS IN AFRICA

Human rights are “rights which all human beings have by virtue of their humanity, such
as the right to life, dignity of human person, personal liberty, fair hearing and freedom of
thought, conscience and religion. They provide a common standard of behavior among the
international community.” They are natural, rational, inviolable, and unalterable, the deprivation
of which would constitute a grave affront to one‟s sense of justice. Rights, as defined, are
generally understood as, “moral-political claims which by contemporary consensus, every human
being has or is deemed to have upon his society or government,” claims which are recognized
“as of right” and “not by love or grace or charity.” Chapter IV of the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, 1999, provides for fundamental rights of citizens, including the right to life,
right to dignity of human person, right to personal liberty, right to fair hearing, right to private
and family life, right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, right to freedom of
movement, right to freedom from discrimination, and the right to acquire and own property
anywhere in Nigeria. Dating back to the colonial era, the human rights records of the Nigerian
state has been consistently poor and unimpressive. At present, the situation has not significantly
improved.
The African regional political commitments to “Silencing the Guns” by 2020 since its
initiation in 2019 has not succeeded in quelling the intractable armed conflicts that has
continued, and new forms of violence by non-state actors has led to widespread killings, torture,
abductions, sexual violence and mass displacements, including crimes under international law, in
several sub-Saharan African countries. Protracted conflicts in the Central African Republic
(CAR), Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan and South Sudan continued to simmer,
with indiscriminate and targeted attacks on civilians. State security forces often replied with
serious human rights violations such as extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and
torture. These conflicts and insecurity (together with new forms of communal violence that
emerged in countries like Ethiopia) were brutal reminders that Africa is a long way from
breaking its deadly cycle of armed conflicts and violence. Often what have been silenced are not
the guns but justice and accountability for crimes and other serious human rights violations.
These violations unfolded in a context of failures to protect and fulfill economic, social
and cultural rights. Forced evictions without compensation continued in countries including
Eswatini, Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Large-scale commercial land acquisitions impacted
livelihoods of thousands in Angola. Access to health care and education (already dire across the
continent) was further exacerbated by conflicts in some counties including Burkina Faso,
Cameroon and Mali. Yet across Africa, ordinary people, activists and human rights defenders
took to the streets. From Khartoum to Harare and from Kinshasa to Conakry, peaceful protesters
braved bullets and beatings to defend the rights that their leaders would not. And sometimes, the
consequences were game changing, an example is the major transformations in political systems
and opening space for profound institutional reforms, such as in Sudan and Ethiopia. The
government‟s position has always been backed by legislation as reflected in the provisions of the
laws and regulations guiding the nation involved.
A major reason for the persistent cycle of armed conflicts and violence in so many
countries was the continuing failure to properly investigate and hold perpetrators to account for
gross violations and abuses, including crimes under international law. Despite limited progress in
some countries, concrete steps to provide justice to victims were generally lacking. In South
Sudan, perpetrators of serious violations committed during the armed conflict continued to enjoy
impunity, and the government continued to block the establishment of the Hybrid Court for
South Sudan (an African Union-led judicial mechanism intended to address the legacy of
violence and provide justice to the conflict‟s victims). In Sudan, the perpetrators of over 16 years
of serious violations in Darfur (including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide)
were still not brought to justice. As in previous years, there were no genuine steps taken by
Nigeria‟s government to deliver justice to countless victims of war crimes and crimes against
humanity committed in the northeast by Boko Haram and its own security forces.
In over 20 countries, people were denied their right to peaceful protest including through
unlawful bans, use of excessive force, harassment and arbitrary arrests. Use of excessive force
and other abuses to disperse peaceful protests resulted in deaths, injuries and unlawful arrests in
several countries. After the Covid-19 Pandemic lockdown across the world, Nigerian youths took
to the streets to protest and seek justice for the innumerable victims of the endless police
brutality in Nigeria. The cynical response of the government on 12th October, 2020 to the plight
of youths especially complaints by the families of youth corpers who lost their lives while
serving their country due to the excessive use of force and other acts of sexual violence by
Special Anti-Robbery Squad(SARS) unit led to the protests in Nigeria. The government used
administrative and other measures such as the mass shooting at Lekki Toll gate to impose
unlawful restrictions and bans on peaceful protests in 2020. For much of the year, Nigerian
police authorities banned peaceful assembly in several states and restricted access to a popular
rallying point for most protests in the capital city of Abuja. The salient points from the peaceful
protest in Nigeria is the fact that African Youths Matter and that African Children have ideas for
industrialization however there is no platform for them to innovate due to bad governance.
Widespread repression of dissent also manifested itself through attacks on human rights
defenders, activists and civil society organizations. Amnesty International documented 19 cases
of assault, arbitrary arrests, and detention of journalists, with many facing trumped up charges. In
Mauritania, anti-slavery activist Ahmedou Ould Wediaa was arbitrarily arrested during a police
raid at his home following his criticism of the authorities‟ response to election-related protests.
In Nigeria, journalists and/or human rights defenders Omoyele Sowore, Olawale Bakare and
Agba Jalingo were arbitrary arrested and detained on politically motivated charges. In a positive
development, authorities in DRC announced in March 2019 that over 700 people had been
released from prison, and all unofficial detention centres operated by the National Intelligence
Agency had been closed, on the president‟s orders. Those freed included several prisoners of
conscience and others held in prolonged arbitrary detention.
Some governments moved to introduce new laws to restrict the activities of human rights
defenders, journalists and opponents. Côte d‟Ivoire in June adopted a new Criminal Code that
threatened to further undermine the right to freedom of expression. It included crimes of
offending the head of state and “publishing data which may undermine public order”. The
Nigerian National Assembly began considering two bills that would severely restrict the right to
freedom of expression online, including one proposing the death penalty for „hate speech‟ in
2019. These bills would give the authorities arbitrary powers to shut down internet access, limit
social media access and make criticizing the government punishable by up to three years in
prison.
In Nigeria, there were widespread arrests of gay, lesbian and bisexual people, and in
December 2019, 47 men went on trial in Lagos charged with public displays of affection with
members of the same sex. In Senegal, at least 11 people were arrested on the basis of their real or
perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. Nine of them were sentenced to between six
months and five years‟ imprisonment. In Uganda, police arrested 16 Lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender and intersex (LGBTI) activists in October and subjected them to forced anal
examinations. These people faced discrimination, prosecution, harassment and violence. In
Tanzania, six health centres working to support the rights of LGBTI people were closed down
after some were accused of “promoting unethical acts”. Positively, the Angolan parliament
adopted a new penal code decriminalizing same-sex relationships, and Botswana‟s High Court
handed down a groundbreaking judgement decriminalizing same-sex relations between
consenting adults.
Despite facing many challenges, the African Commission on Human and Peoples‟ Rights
(ACHPR) and African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child
(ACERWC) registered relatively impressive records in developing new human rights standards
and norms, including the ACHPR General Comment No. 5 on the Right to Movement. Africa
faces numerous human rights challenges. Protecting civilians in armed conflict, freeing human
rights defenders and activists from repression, opening up political space for dialogue, tackling
discrimination and violence against women and minorities, and safeguarding vulnerable people‟s
economic, social and cultural rights are just some of them. But if 2020 taught us anything, it is
that accountability and justice are at the heart of any meaningful solutions as is the power and
resilience of people to bring about positive and meaningful human rights changes. This can only
be reached by ending the widespread culture of impunity and ensuring justice and reparations for
the victims of gross human rights violations and abuses.

NAME: UKOBONG JOSEPH UDOH

AGE: 25 years old

GENDER: MALE

COUNTRY: NIGERIA

ADDRESS: no. 1 Udousanga close, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

PHONE NUMBER: 08163038469

WHERE YOU HEARD ABOUT THE CALL FOR ENTRIES: I read about the call for
entries in a Whatsapp Group Chat Tagged “ROLLING HILLS BAND”

SHORT PROFILE ABOUT YOURSELF: My name is Ukobong Joseph Udoh. I am a native

of Obong Itam, Itu Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. I speak English, Efik
and Ibibio Languages fluently. I am dark in complexion. I was the class prefect in my primary
school, Royal Christian Academy. I was the Library Prefect and also the Best Graduating prefect
in my Secondary School, Bright Future College. In 2016, I won the Obong Bassey Albert
Scholarship award for Tertiary institution in the University. I am a Practicing Christian.
PERMISSION TO PUBLISH YOUR POEM/ESSAY( in one or two paragraphs): I hereby
declare that I grant The African Chapter of the International Human Rights Art Festival(IHFAF)
the permission to publish my Essay.

NAME OF SCHOOL OR UNIVERSITY IF ANY: University Of Uyo, Uyo