stop torturE NigEriA © Israel Ophori
A drEAm dEstroYEd
Moses spent the next eight years in prison. On 12 November 2013, he was sentenced to death by hanging. The conviction was based on his “confession” and the alleged robbery victim’s testimony. The police officer who investigated his case didn’t turn up in court. Because Moses was a child when he was arrested, he should never have been sentenced to death. It is illegal under international law. Also, any “confession” obtained after torture should not be allowed as evidence in court. But Moses is just one of thousands of people across Nigeria who have been tortured into confessing a crime. Amnesty International’s research shows that the police and military routinely use torture to interrogate suspects, and courts are sentencing people based on the resulting “confessions”. Torture allegations against army and police officers are very rarely investigated or punished. Torture often starts in the first 24 hours after an arrest – a crucial window. If a suspect is allowed to call a lawyer who can represent them, as is required by law, it can help protect them and potentially stop the torturers in their tracks. Amnesty and other organizations continue to call on the Nigerian authorities to explicitly criminalize torture and other ill-treatment.
Today, Moses is a traumatized and isolated 24-yearold man. He only sees his family twice a month since being transferred to a prison much further away in 2006. “I never thought I’d be alive until today,” he told us recently. His dream of becoming a doctor has been destroyed. Moses says that what pains him most is that while he’s been in prison, many of his former classmates have gone on to university and found good jobs. His lawyer has filed an appeal against his death sentence. But for now, Moses remains trapped in prison, robbed of a future, his life hanging in the balance.
© Private
mosEs WAs A Child
tAkE ACtioN >>> Your letter can help moses get justice: Please urge the authorities to commute his death sentence and carry out an independent investigation into his torture allegations.
Right: A school photograph of Moses, taken before his ordeal began. Background: A street in Effurun, near the place where Moses was arrested by the Nigerian army in 2005.
start your letter ‘Your Excellency’ and send it to: Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, Governor of Delta State Office of the Governor, Government House, Asaba Delta State, Nigeria
15 WirE [ mAY/JuNE 2014 ]