- After twelve Northern Nigerian states since 2000 have introduced Islamic law, or Shari'a, the Muslim population majority is mostly disillusioned. They had hoped Shari'a courts would be better than Nigeria's old and discredited justice system, but many by now find that only the harsh aspects of Shari'a are implemented while generosity and compassion is overlooked, a new report says.
North Nigerian state governments and Shari'a courts had failed to respect international human rights standards, according to Peter Takirambudde of the US group Human Rights Watch. "They have also disregarded what many Muslims argue are key principles of Shari'a itself. They have concentrated on the harsh aspects of Islamic law while ignoring its principles of generosity and compassion," Mr Takirambudde added.
The US human rights group today in London presented a 111-page report on the use of Islamic law in Nigeria. The report documents how human rights are systematically violated as a consequence of the Shari'a courts' practices, while admitting that similar abuses are at least as common in Nigeria's non-Shari'a legal system.
The report claims that Shari'a courts in Northern Nigeria have "failed to respect due process rights, resulting in discriminatory and harsh sentences." Further, northern state governors had used Shari'a as "a political tool while condoning serious abuses."
Since 2000, at least 10 people have been sentenced to death and dozens sentenced to amputation and floggings. The majority, according to the report "have been tried without legal representation" and many sentenced to amputation had been convicted on confessions extracted under torture by the police.
Judges in Shari'a courts, most of whom had not received adequate training, had often failed to inform defendants of their rights, the report found. "If the Shari'a courts had respected the due process rights enshrined in Nigeria's constitution, many of these sentences would never have been imposed," commented Mr Takirambudde.
The report further highlights discrimination against women within the Shari'a legislation. Women had been especially affected in cases of adultery or extramarital sex, where standards of evidence differ for men and for women, and pregnancy is considered sufficient evidence to convict a woman. Judges had also "failed to investigate allegations of rape made by female defendants in adultery cases."
As domestic and international concern over singular harsh Shari'a sentences has increased, the momentum for this legislation has waned in the past year or two. Harsh sentences have become rarer, and several death sentences have been overturned on appeal. However, the legislation providing for these punishments remains in place, and fundamental abuses continue.
In Northern Nigeria, many Muslims who had initially supported Shari'a have become disillusioned with the manner in which it has been implemented, according to the group. They told Human Rights Watch that this was not "real Shari'a" but "political Shari'a," but they were fearful of being labelled "anti-Islamic" if they said so publicly.
- State governors have championed Shari-a simply to boost their popularity, Mr Takirambudde claimed. "These officials have been willing to sanction serious abuses to enhance their political standing," he added.
However, as popular opinion had shifted, state governors have now become hesitant to carry out the death sentences and amputations that have been handed down. However, they are also not prepared to oppose such punishments. As a result, dozens of people are now facing prolonged periods of uncertainty in detention while an amputation sentence hangs over them. Some have been in prison for more than two years.
Some of the human rights violations documented in the report - such as police torture and corruption in the judiciary - "are not peculiar to Shari'a," Human Rights Watch emphasises. "Indeed, they are at least as widespread in cases handled by the parallel common law system," the US group holds. "In parts of the country where there is no Shari'a, grave human rights problems persist," Mr Takirambudde added.
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