SERAP asks ICC Prosecutor to probe alleged crimes against humanity in Jos

A civil society group, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has petitioned Luis Moreno Ocampo, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague, The Netherlands requesting him to use his position “to investigate allegations of unlawful killing of at least 326 people and perpetration of other crimes under international law during the violence this month in Jos, Plateau State of Nigeria; and the reports that the military and police used excessive force against both Christians and Muslims in responding to the violence.” In a petition dated 29 January, 2010 and sent to Mr Ocampo by Solicitor to SERAP, Mr Femi Falana, the group said that “Nigeria is a state party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and deposited its instrument of ratification on 27 September 2001.” According to Falana, “the Plateau State Police Command said that at least 326 people were killed during the violence. Tens of thousands are displaced, and denied access to humanitarian assistance and basic necessities of life such as food and medical care. Many have not been assisted to return to their homes and land, or provided with alternative accommodation.”
“The latest violation of international law in Jos is coming just after the apparently unlawful killings of more than 700 people that followed the Boko Haram crisis last year. Inter-communal, political, and sectarian violence have claimed the lives of more than 20,000 people, including women and children, during the past 10 years,” the group added. The group also said that, “Those who are suspected to be responsible for the latest violence and previous outbreaks of deadly violence in Jos have not been arrested let alone brought to justice because the government has shown itself to be too weak to act, contrary to its international legal obligations, including under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The government usually response to outbreaks of violence in many parts of the country by setting up commissions of inquiry, but few of them have ever published their reports, and even when they have, their recommendations have rarely been acted upon or led to prosecutions.”

Fresh Crisis Spreads In Jos

Despite the calmness, initially experienced yesterday in jos, renewed hostilities occurred at Rikkos, Bauchi ring-road, Ali Kazaurf, Congo Russia and Katako area of Jos this morning. According to our correspondent, with the resumption of hostilities in Jos this morning, Plateau State government in consultation with the state security council, reviewing prevailing situation in Jos metropolis has directed the immediate imposition of a twenty-four hour curfew in Jos and Bukuru. According to a police official, who declined to be identified, said as many as 60 people may have been killed since Sunday when clashes started Police initially imposed a nighttime curfew on Jos on Sunday to ease tensions and prevent a repeat of the November 2008 clashes that killed hundreds of residents. But violence flared up again on Tuesday, forcing the police to extend its curfew. In a statement by commissioner for information and communication, Gregory Yenlong, residents are advised to adhere strictly to the directive. "In view of this situation in town, I hereby declare a 24-hour curfew starting from now," said Gregory Anyating, the state's police commissioner.