13 June 2014

Labour MP signs PGA letter to Nigerian President

President of Parliamentarians for Global Action Ross Robertson, has signed a letter to President Goodluck Jonathan, President of the Republic of Nigeria, on behalf of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), expressing the organisation’s heartfelt sympathies with the Nigerian people following the kidnapping of over 200 girls from a school in Chibok in April.

Mr Robertson says that the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) had already stated in its 2013 report that there is a reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed in Nigeria by Boko Haram, and this has been reaffirmed in the statement of the ICC Prosecutor on the abduction of the schoolgirls.

“Because the Rome Statute has not yet been implemented into Nigeria’s domestic legal order, the Republic of Nigeria cannot domestically prosecute the leaders of Boko Haram for crimes against humanity, which they are allegedly committing,” said Ross Robertson.

“We are therefore encouraging President Goodluck Jonathan to take all necessary action to ensure that the legal, judicial and prosecutorial system of the Republic of Nigeria will be able to indict the leaders or Boko Haram and other persons allegedly responsible for these and other atrocities falling under the umbrella of crimes against humanity.

“We in PGA associate ourselves with the global campaign promoting the prompt and immediate liberation of the girls, and welcome the international cooperation that neighbouring countries and foreign powers have offered to Nigeria.

“It is vital that the human rights of Nigeria’s civilian population are protected, regardless of their religious beliefs and cultural orientation. There can be no justification for these heinous crimes,” said Ross Robertson.

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