News
BPE Probe:
UN Working Group Urged To Refer Matter To ICC
A
civil society group, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability
Project (SERAP) has sent communication to the UN Working Group
on Communications (WGC) under the Human Rights Council Complaint
Procedure, expressing “serious concerns about allegations of
widespread and systematic bribery and other forms of high level
corruption in the privatisation process in Nigeria conducted by
the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE).”
Among other reliefs, SERAP is asking the WGC to refer the matter
to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to
consider “whether the allegations of widespread and systematic
corruption in the privatisation process, which violates the
citizens’ internationally recognized right to natural wealth and
resources, also amounts to a crime against humanity against the
Nigerian peoples.”
In
the communication dated 15 August 2011, and signed by SERAP
Executive Director Adetokunbo Mumuni, the group said, “We
consider the allegations to amount to a violation of Nigerians’
right to natural wealth and resources, and to an adequate
standard of living, and urge the Working Group to use its
position to ensure that the Nigerian government is held to
account for these violations, and that anyone suspected to be
involved in the widespread and systematic corruption is brought
to justice promptly.
“Despite the country’s commitment under the UN International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Nigerian
government has failed to ensure full compliance with the basic
standards of transparency, fairness, participation, and
accountability in the sale and privatisation of public
properties since 1999 to date. This failure was disclosure
during a public hearing by the Nigerian Senate investigating the
sale of public properties by the Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE),”
the group added.
SERAP identified examples of the alleged lack of compliance with
these minimum thresholds to include: “Failure to consult with
Nigerians and to provide adequate information about the
privatisation process; failure to provide consumers with
sufficient information on their options and remedies; failure to
ensure effective access to justice for Nigerians in the
privatisation process; failure to undertake a human rights
impact assessment of the privatisation process; failure to
ensure human rights protection before, during and after the
privatisation process; and failure to ensure full disclosure of
information about the allegations of the massive corruption
disclosed before the Senate Committee.
“As
a consequence, the process has had a negative impact on the
enjoyment of the internationally recognized economic and social
rights by the citizens,” the group said.
“The
privatisation of public utilities is connected to different
dimensions of the right of everyone to an adequate standard of
living, in particular to state obligation to provide access. But
the privatisation process by the government through BPE has
wrongfully deprived millions of Nigerians their right to natural
wealth and resources, subjecting them to economic and social
hardship,” the group further argued.
The
group also said that, “Not only has the Nigerian government
failed to deliver essential services to the citizens, it has
also failed to properly and effectively enable and regulate the
provision of these services.
“International human rights are limitations on the exercise of
state power, and offer protection to the weak and vulnerable
sectors of the population. An illegal act (such as the
widespread and systematic corruption in the privatisation
process), which violates human rights, though not initially
directly imputable to a state, can lead to international legal
responsibility of the state, not because of the act itself but
because of the lack of due diligence to prevent the violation or
to respond to it when it occurred,” the group also said.
According to the group, “international human rights law imposes
limits or conditions on the way a given process of privatisation
is carried out. In fact, the UN Committee on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights in its General Comment 3 has implied that
privatisation process should not be detrimental to the effective
realization of all human rights.”
SERAP said there was “no effective domestic remedy in place to
address the types of violations contained in this
communication”. The organization therefore asked the Working
Group to:
1. Find Nigeria in violation of international standards
requiring the full realization of the right to natural wealth
and resources, the right work, and the right to an adequate
standard of living for the victims the privatization process.
2. Ask the government of Nigeria to name and shame, and to
effectively bring to justice those responsible for the
widespread and systematic bribery and other forms of corruption
in the privatization process.
3. Ask the government of Nigeria to effectively guarantee to its
citizens the internationally recognized human right to natural
wealth and resources, and to reform the privatization process
4. Refer the situation to the UN Human Rights Council session to
ensure full accountability and justice in the case
5.
Refer the matter to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal
Court so as to determine whether the widespread and systematic
corruption in the privatisation process amounts to a crime
against humanity against the Nigerian citizens.
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