HRW writes to President Obasanjo over massacres

The global rights watchdog, Human Rights Watch (HRW), has written to Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo over the massacre of civilians by the military in October 2001. The letter was in response to Obasanjo's recent dismissal of an earlier report by the rights group. "By dismissing our report in this way, President Obasanjo is effectively dismissing the gravity of the military killings in Benue," Peter Takirambudde, Executive Director of HRW's Africa Division, said. HRW published the report of an investigation in Benue State on 3 April, saying the army killed more than 200 unarmed civilians and carried out widespread destruction on 22-24 October 2001, in an operation that followed the murder of 19 soldiers sent to stem armed violence between the Tiv and Jukun ethnic groups. But on Wednesday, PANA quoted Obasanjo as saying: "I have dismissed the report with the contempt it deserves because it failed to condemn the killing of soldiers who were sent to separate the feuding Jukuns and Tivs. Is it only when soldiers kill civilians that you talk about human rights? Were the 19 soldiers beheaded not human beings?". HRW said on Thursday: "We deeply regret that in addition to misrepresenting the contents of our report, President Obasanjo is still refusing to condemn the massacre by the Nigerian military." It added that "the reprisal killings carried out by the army constitute grave human rights violations for which President Obasanjo should not allow the perpetrators to escape with impunity". The rights group urged Nigeria to bring to justice those who carried out the killings. The letter can be found at http://hrw.org/.