read the report - Amnesty International

NIGERIA
‘WAITING FOR THE HANGMAN’
21
reviewed by a higher tribunal according to law.” The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
similarly guarantees the right to appeal to a higher and independent judicial body.
There are at least 80 prisoners on death row who were sentenced to death by Robbery and
Firearms Tribunals, with no right of appeal. 69 The Robbery and Firearms Tribunals established
under the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Decree No. 5 of 1984 denied
defendants the right to appeal and their composition contradicted fair trial standards, being
made up of two people with a military or police background and one presiding civilian judge.
Each of the three members of the tribunal had an equal vote. 70
In 1999, jurisdiction was restored to the state-level High Courts, with a right of appeal
to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. However, it is unclear how this relates to
those who were convicted and sentenced to death by tribunals. In 2001, LEDAP attempted
to appeal against a conviction and sentence by a Miscellaneous Offences Tribunal which
similarly excluded right of appeal. The appeal stalled because the records of proceedings
of the tribunal had been lost. 71 A lawyer who tried to follow up on a lost tribunal case file
said: “The High Court has an archive of the records of proceedings, well, it is more a
dump of all documents they don’t need anymore. A heap of dusty documents, all mixed
up, that contain decisions on people’s lives. Nothing is filed; you can hardly separate
one case from the other. There is no way any of these court proceedings can be found
again easily.” 72
Many of the death row prisoners sentenced by tribunals think it is better to apply for the
prerogative of mercy than to appeal. They fear that appealing would reduce their chance of
being released as most prisoners wait at least five years for their appeal to be concluded. 73
One prisoner who was sentenced to death by a tribunal said: “They try to tell us that they
will release us after 10 years. I don’t want to go to court.” 74 Another prisoner explained:
“I tried appeal. Welfare people [in prison] tell me they can not do anything. This is my tenth
year now, if I stand court now, I won’t get my freedom. Even some have been released before
10 years.” 75
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights found in two complaints that the
Robbery and Firearms Tribunal and the Civil Disturbances Special Tribunal violated the right
to appeal guaranteed under Article 7 (1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’
Rights. 76 The UN Human Rights Committee, the expert committee that monitors the ICCPR,
has stated that the imposition of death sentences without the possibility of appeal is
incompatible with the ICCPR, and constitutes a violation of the right to life. 77
Four out of 10 prisoners on death row never filed an appeal, either because their right to
appeal was denied or because they did not have the money for court fees and a lawyer.
Hauwa (46) was 24 when she was arrested on 17 August 1986 suspected of murder.
She waited almost nine years for her trial to be concluded and was sentenced to death on
5 February 1995. “I did not have good legal presentation during the trial. That was why I was
convicted and condemned.” Hauwa never filed an appeal: “I never had nobody to appeal”.
After 22 years in prison, her mental health has deteriorated severely. 78
Index: AFR 44/020/2008 Amnesty International October 2008