Election violence: SERAP writes Buhari, seeks referral of cases to ICC

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, urging him to immediately refer to the International Criminal Court (ICC), all allegations of election-related violence, intimidation and killings between 1999 and 2019 for investigation and prosecution.

The organization said that it was important to do this to send a powerful message that election-related violence, intimidation and killings would not be tolerated under your watch.

In the letter dated February 25, 2019 and signed by SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare, the organization said: “Referral of the cases of election-related violence, intimidation and killings to the ICC would serve as a deterrent and ensure that Nigerians, particularly victims in the states that have repeatedly witnessed violence and whose human rights have been violated are not denied justice and effective remedies.

“The violence, intimidation and killings in some states around the just concluded general elections suggest that the electoral law and criminal law have over the years not been adequately enforced, and deterrence, through criminal sanctions, is failing. Electoral violence – a species of political violence – is not only a criminal act but crimes under international law, given its widespread and systematic nature over many years.

“Apart from undermining the integrity of elections and the democratic process, the repeated failure of successive governments to punish electoral violence has created a culture of impunity among politicians who persistently recruit and arm thugs to intimidate and kill political opponents, and citizens who are simply exercising their rights to participate in their own government.”