Human Rights Watch criticises Nigeria mass terrorism trials

Human Rights Watch said Nigeria's mass terrorism trials of alleged jihadists and their supporters are leading to convictions based on limited evidence and are raising serious fair trial concerns.

The rights group said the trials continue to focus mainly on low-level suspects, sometimes after defendants have spent years in pre-trial detention. Nigeria has faced a jihadist insurgency since 2009, and the source report said both militants and security forces have been accused of serious rights abuses.

Human Rights Watch said it observed court appearances in April, when more than 500 defendants were brought to the Federal High Court in Abuja over a few days, and again in June. It said the June proceedings involved about 600 defendants and were the tenth phase of mass trials that the government has described as necessary to fight terrorism in a backlogged court system.

The group said many convictions were secured through guilty pleas, with little or no other evidence. It said some charges it observed were unclear and lacked important details such as the date and specifics of the alleged offence. When defendants pleaded not guilty, Human Rights Watch said prosecutors were unable to support the charges and withdrew them.

Human Rights Watch said the use of guilty pleas raised concern that defendants may be pressured to admit to lesser charges. It also said the process could mean the most serious crimes, including possible war crimes, are not being pursued in court.

Nigeria's director of public prosecutions, responding to the report, said the government was balancing the need to confront terrorism with the need to preserve the constitutional rights of every person.

Human Rights Watch also said defence lawyers repeatedly did not call witnesses or present evidence. It said some cases involving material support for armed groups appeared to include people who had lived under jihadist rule and may have faced death if they defied militants. In one case cited by the group, a defendant pleaded guilty to raising goats for Boko Haram. His defence lawyer argued that he had been forced to work for Boko Haram after the group invaded his village. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.