Adeday Akinwale in Abuja
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has commenced
investigation into the incessant attacks on diverse farming communities across
the country by armed Fulani herdsmen, the Human Rights Writers Association of
Nigeria (HURIWA) has revealed.
A statement issued wednesday in Abuja by the National
Coordinator of the group, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, said ICC disclosed this through
a letter it sent to the group from The Hague, The Netherlands.
The letter signed by
the Head of Information and Evidence Unit, Office of the Prosecutor, ICC, Mark
.P. Dillon, and dated August 15, 2017 was sequel to the earlier petition the
rights group sent to ICC demanding action to prosecute sponsors of the armed
Fulani attacks.
HURIWA said it had
invited ICC in a letter of petition dated September 15, 2016 to investigate the
widespread killings going on in Nigeria especially by armed Fulani herdsmen and
to take action to bring the perpetrators to international justice since the
current Nigerian government was doing nothing to address these issues radically
in compliance with the Nigerian laws.
Onwubiko however,
noted that ICC revealed that a similar petition that had been filed and that
the matter was already undergoing preliminary examination by the office of the
chief prosecutor.
The ICC letter
addressed to HURIWA according to him, stated thus: “On behalf of the
prosecutor, I thank you for your communication received on 15 /09/2016, as well
as any subsequent related information.”
“It appears that your
communication relates to a situation already under preliminary examination by
the office of the prosecutor. Accordingly, your communication will be analysed
in this context, with the assistance of other related communications and other
available information.
“Under Article 53 of
the Rome Statue, the prosecutor must consider whether there is a reasonable
basis to believe that crimes within jurisdiction of the court have been
committed, the gravity of the crimes, whether national systems are
investigating and prosecuting give the relevant crimes, and the interest of
justice. Analysis will be carried out as possible, but please be aware that
meaningful analysis of these factors can take some time.
“As soon as a decision is taken on whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation, we will advise you promptly and we will promptly reasons for the decision.
“As soon as a decision is taken on whether there is a reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation, we will advise you promptly and we will promptly reasons for the decision.
“We thank you for your
interest in the ICC. If you would like to learn more about the ICC, please
consult our website at www.icc-cpi.int. If you would like to learn more about
how the Office carries out analysis of information, please see our policy paper
on preliminary examinations, on the office webpage at the website above.”
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