According to SERAP Nigeria. we strongly condemn the arbitrary arrest and detention of journalist Zainab Sodiq by the Department of State Services (DSS) and call on President Bola Tinubu to direct the DSS to immediately release her, as she is detained solely for the peaceful exercise of her human rights and for carrying out her legitimate work as a journalist.
The reported arrest and detention of Ms Sodiq represent yet another
disturbing attack on press freedom, freedom of expression and the public's
right to seek, receive and impart information.
Journalism is not a crime. No journalist should be subjected to arrest,
detention, intimidation, harassment or reprisals simply for carrying out
professional duties or reporting on matters of public interest. A free and
independent press is indispensable to democracy, transparency, accountability
and the rule of law.
The rule of law requires all deprivations of liberty to comply strictly
with legality, necessity, proportionality and judicial oversight, and that
arbitrary detention has no place in a democratic society.
The Nigerian authorities must immediately end the use of arbitrary
detention and other forms of intimidation to silence journalists, critics and
human rights defenders. The detention of Ms Sodiq sends a chilling message to
journalists across the country and risks further shrinking Nigeria's civic
space.
We are again calling on the Tinubu administration to immediately
withdraw the politically motivated and unfounded charges against journalist
Omoyele Sowore and allow him to freely carry out his journalistic, civic and
political activities without intimidation, harassment or reprisals.
The charges and lawsuits against Mr Sowore appear to be intended to
intimidate, harass and silence him for peacefully exercising his human rights.
They constitute an unnecessary, disproportionate and unjustifiable interference
with his rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association,
and risk creating a chilling effect on journalists, human rights defenders and
other critical voices across Nigeria.
The government of President Bola Tinubu, Nigeria’s state governors,
lawmakers and other must immediately stop the ongoing intimidation and
harassment of journalists, activists, bloggers and civil society organizations
(CSOs) in the country simply for the peaceful exercise of their human rights.
Nigerian authorities must end the use of some provisions of the
Cybercrimes Act, criminal and penal codes and other repressive laws to target
journalists, activists, CSOs, and critics peacefully expressing their views
online, and immediately release those arbitrarily detained across the country.
Using repressive laws and strategic lawsuit against public participation
(SLAPP) lawsuits to intimidate and harass journalists, activists, bloggers and
CSOs erodes democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law in Nigeria.
The use of repressive laws and SLAPP lawsuits to crackdown on peaceful
dissent is entirely inconsistent with the Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as
amended] and the country’s international human rights obligations including
under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which the country is a state party.
Nigerian authorities at all levels should show that they tolerate
peaceful dissent and media freedom if the Nigerian people are to have any
chance of holding them accountable on their constitutional oath of office,
commitments and promises.
We are deeply concerned that Nigerian authorities at all levels and
other actors continue to use repressive laws and misuse the judicial processes
to normalize repression of the rights of journalists, bloggers, human rights
defenders, activists, opposition politicians, artists and other Nigerians.
Impunity for those who threaten, intimidate and harass journalists,
bloggers, human rights defenders and activists contributes to the hostile
environment for these defenders of constitutionally and internationally
guaranteed human rights in Nigeria.
The right to freedom of expression applies to all kinds of information
and ideas, including those that may shock, offend or disturb.
We urge President Tinubu and his government to publicly call on
Nigeria’s state governors, the Nigerian Police Force, the Department of State
Services (DSS) to uphold and ensure full respect for the rights of everyone in
the country, including journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders and
activists.
We also call on President Tinubu and his government, the country’s 36
governors and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister to genuinely uphold
human rights, press freedom, ensure access to information to all Nigerians,
obey court judgments, and respect the rule of law.
We urge the international community to hold Nigerian authorities to
account for violations of human rights in the country, including by calling on
the authorities at both the Federal and state levels to immediately and
unconditionally release anyone detained solely for peacefully exercising their
human rights.
.jfif)
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