NHRC | National Human Rights Commission

100 DAYS OF ACTIVISM AT NHRC

The appointment of Roland Ewubare, a corporate lawyer from the private sector as Executive Secretary National Human Rights Commission 100 days ago was received with a lot of excitement and optimism both within and outside the Commission. Kaduna based Human Rights NGO; Human Rights Monitor welcomed the appointment of Ewubare, and described it as a positive development that will steer the Commission towards true independence. Many International NGOs including Amnesty International, after initial scepticism, have also been engaging actively with the Commission in the task of promotion and protection of human rights since Mr. Ewubare came on board. Within the Commission itself staff morale received a huge boost as Mr. Ewubare exhibited uncommon commitment to achieve results as he introduced new ideas and strategies aimed at running an activist and interventionist National Institution.

On his first day in office Mr. Ewubare addressed the staff and described his appointment as a calling to which he was committed and determined to achieve results quickly. He said human rights promotion and protection has been confronted with a lot of challenges and the National Human Rights Commission was not sufficiently equipped to discharge her mandate. This inadequacy and perceived lack of independence of the Commission he noted contributed to the loss of Nigeria’s voting status at the International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (ICC). He said his major objective was to restore within the shortest possible time the Grade A Status of the Commission, with voting recognition at the ICC. This he said required a lot of measures including the review of the NHRC Act 1995, boosting staff morale through an enhanced condition of service, strengthening of the human rights monitoring and complaints treatment mechanisms as well as development of a robust advocacy strategy to engage with all stakeholders in order to bring human rights issues to the forefront of national dialogue. He urged all staff to brace up to the challenges ahead.

After only 3 months in office, Mr. Ewubare has recorded tremendous achievements. He has initiated a constructive engagement process with human rights stakeholders, development partners, the media, government agencies and NGO’s aimed at running a vibrant and proactive National Human Rights Institution.

He has so far paid series of visits to key human rights stakeholders like the Inspector General of Police, Controller General of Prisons the National Assembly, MacArthur Foundation, Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and some Media organizations. He is due to undertake similar visits to other stakeholders. He also received in audience many organizations notably, Secretary General of the Commonwealth, American Inter Religious Council, the Embassy of Switzerland etc

When he visited the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ewubare demanded for the release of 7 election monitors, including a staff of the Commission Mr. Abdul-Wahab Oyedokun who were arrested and detained by the Police during the re-run election in Ekiti State. He said it was illegal for the Police to detain the election monitors who were earlier attacked and nearly killed by thugs. They were released unconditionally.

During his visit to the Controller General of Prisons, the Executive Secretary expressed concern over the large number of persons awaiting trials in prisons across the country and called for adequate measures to decongest the prisons. He expressed similar concerns in a Public statement he issued after the jail break at Enugu Prisons. He said the Enugu prisons had a lock up far above its capacity with inadequate beddings, clothing, food, water and medical facilities. These are contrary to the provisions of the UN Minimum Standard Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners he said. The Commission also called for fast-tracking of the current criminal justice administration reform in order to ensure speedy trial of suspects.

Also during the period under review, Mr. Ewubare issued statements condemning in strongest terms the assault on Media Practitioners in the country. He said the arrest of Mr. Akim Arimolade of the National Life Newspaper by agents purported to be working for Bayelsa State Government was totally unacceptable as the method adopted infringed the freedom of the press as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He also called on the National Assembly to as a matter of urgency pass the Freedom of Information Bill in order to strengthen and deepen democratic norms through promoting transparency, accountability, good governance and rule of law.

Mr. Ewubare’s concern over cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of suspects and persons who have come in conflict with the law, made him to issue a public statement condemning the brutalization of Mr. Rasaq Salami by Police Officers attached to the Embassy of Poland in Abuja. The commission described the action as barbaric, uncivilized and an infringement of Mr. Salami’s rights against torture, inhuman and degrading treatment. In order to address the issue of torture squarely, the NHRC has established torture documentation centres at the Abuja headquarters and all her six zonal offices located in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano, Enugu, Maiduguri and Jos. Victims of torture are expected to take advantage of these Centres to enforce their fundamental rights. 

Also as part of efforts to draw attention to the issue of torture, the Commission organized awareness walk and addressed a press conference to mark the United Nations International Day in support of victims of torture on 26th June. On that Occasion, Mr. Ewubare called for the criminalization of torture which he described as a heinous crime against humanity that cannot be justified under any circumstance. He further called on all law enforcement agents to improve their investigation skills and avoid the use of torture, as henceforth all complaints against officers using torture will not go unpunished. He equally used the occasion to condemn in strongest terms a first generation bank which wantonly violated the right of a female employee against discrimination because of her HIV status. He threatened to take a legal action against the bank. 

Another landmark achievement of Mr. Ewubare worthy of mention in the last three months is the review of the National Action Plan (NAP) for the promotion and protection of human rights in Nigeria. Mr. Ewubare hosted a forum where stakeholders on human rights reviewed the NAP document which outlines Nigeria’s commitments to human rights as a benchmark for assessing her Human Rights Standards locally, regionally and internationally. The document is now ready to be deposited at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, on 24th July 2009. This is a tremendous achievement as Nigeria will be the second country in Africa to achieve this feat.

During his first 100 days at the helm of affairs at the National Human Rights Commission, Mr. Ewubare has already demonstrated what the new focus of the Commission will look like¬; an activist and interventionist Commission. For this new orientation to get entrenched, Ewubare recognized the need to retrain the staff and expose them to the skills of international best practices and current trends in human rights promotion and protection. He therefore sent staff of the Commission to attend Conferences and training workshops within the country and abroad in an unprecedented manner. He equally hosted an in-house training by Benetech Initiative from United States. During the programme, Staff of the Commission were trained on Martus Solution Software which is currently being used to computerize the Commission’s Complaint Treatment Mechanism. Another training programme is currently going on in collaboration with Amnesty International.

Another issue Mr. Ewubare confronted frontally is the funding of the Commissions projects and programmes. This has been very challenging over the years due to inadequate budgetary allocation to the Commission. Mr. Ewubare worked around this challenge by looking for additional sources of funding the Commission’s projects and programmes. He personally donated a brand new car to the Commission and dedicated his official car for investigation of complaints on human rights violations. He has also been spending huge sums of personal funds in running the affairs of the Commission. He equally rallied round his friends in the private sector who have been very generous in supporting the work of the Commission. Four brand new cars donated to the Commission by Ewubare’s associates are already on the road investigating complaints, monitoring violations and creating awareness on human rights issues. Many more are being expected. 

He similarly produced thousands of awareness posters, branded shirts, apron and other critical ICE materials through his friends in Nigeria and abroad. He has also continued to engage with development partners like MacArthur Foundation, UNICEF, UNDP and other prominent International NGOS like Amnesty International to execute many projects and programmes of the Commission.

Mr. Ewubare is now set to reorganize the Commission to make her operations conform to his philosophy of activist interventionism. As part of this exercise, a Public Litigation Unit is being created to handle the prosecution of alleged human rights violators. According to Mr. Ewubare Public/Private Institutions, security officials and even private individuals who engage in grave human rights violations like torture, discrimination and other degrading treatment of persons must be severely punished according to the provisions of the Law. The litigation unit will be focused on achieving this objective.

The present structure of the Commission is also being modified to make it more targets driven. The Departments will be refocused to synergise with one another in a proactive manner. Accessibility to the Commission’s service is also receiving a huge boost, as the Executive Secretary plans to establish offices of the Commission in all states of the Federation in the coming year. The Commission currently has only one office in each of the six geo-political zones.

The strategic work plan of the commission is also to undergoing a review. From now on, emphasis will be placed on reducing violation of rights through public enlightenment, human rights education and the promotion of the progressive realization of economic social and cultural rights. Other issues that will receive attention include training of law enforcement agencies, including police and Prison officers, as well as the rights of the vulnerable groups like women, children and the elderly. 

A lot has been said and done during the 1st 100 days of Ewubare’s tenure. Those of us privileged to serve during this challenging period have realized that we are at a threshold of achieving a major breakthrough. We believe that we are making progress towards restoring the status of the NHRC at the ICC of human rights institutions as well as strengthening her capacity to protect and promote human rights throughout the federation. The biggest challenge will be to sustain the momentum already generated.

NASIRU LADAN

Public Affairs & Communications Department

NHRC, Abuja.

08023025285

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