NIGERIA: BENUE UPDATE - INFORMATION ON JUDICIAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 001193

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/16/2012
TAGS: PGOV PHUM MOPS PINS NI
SUBJECT: NIGERIA: BENUE UPDATE - INFORMATION ON JUDICIAL
COMMISSION


REF: STATE 41523


Classified by CDA Tim Andrews; Reasons 1.5 (b) and (d).



1. (C) SUMMARY: Dr. Sani Sufi, Secretary of the Judicial
Commission of Inquiry on inter-communal conflicts in Plateau,
Benue, Taraba and Nassarawa States April 15 briefed PolOffs
on the Commission's plans. Members have been selected and
the body inaugurated by the Federal Government. Sufi was
optimistic about the composition of the panel, and expected
public hearings would begin in May. An end-date cannot yet
be established. END SUMMARY.



2. (U) Dr. Sani A. Sufi, Secretary of the Judicial Commission
of Inquiry on the inter-communal conflict in Benue, Taraba,
Nassarawa and Plateau States April 15 briefed PolCouns and
PolMilOff on the Commission. Sufi is a civil servant who is
concurrently Secretary of the Commission and Director of
Administration at the Ministry of Defense.


======================
THE DELAYS APPEAR OVER
======================



3. (C) Sufi noted that while the Commission was announced
late last year, its inauguration took until March. The delay
was because the body was constituted as a full-fledged
judicial commission; arrangements had to be made with the
Supreme Court for the provision of bailiffs, court reporters
and other judicial support staff. Because of the nature of
the Commission, the presiding officer had to be a well-known
jurist. The Ministry of Justice also had to second two
prosecutors to work full time with the Commission.
Allocation of funds was difficult and time-consuming as well,
Sufi admitted. Additionally, the Federal Government engaged
in informal consultations with the four states in question,
asking each state to either present the name of an indigene
it wanted on the commission or to comment on names proposed
by the federal government. While these consultations took
time, they assured that the states would be more comfortable
about the make-up and the deliberations of the group. The
four other members of the panel were chosen from among
Nigeria's corps of distinguished, retired civil servants.
These four were selected for their overall knowledge of
government and Nigeria. Not from any of the affected states,
this quartet was selected to bring significant expertise and
greater objectivity to the Commission.



4. (U) The Commission Chairman is Justice Chukwuemeka
Opene, the Presiding Judge of the Federal Court of Appeal, a
highly respected jurist. The other eight members include
Alhaji Mohammed Liman, Micleans Dikwal, Daniel Agogo, Alhaji
Haruna Ahmadu, Ambassador Yahaya Abdullahi, Alhaji Yahaya
Hamza, Chief Patrick Okon, and Ruth Akafa.


=============
THE GAME PLAN
=============



5. (U) The Commission's formal terms of reference include: 1)
Examining the proximate causes of the conflicts between
communities in the four states; 2) Identifying the basic
issues underlying tension between communities and providing
strategies for peace; 3) Identifying groups and individuals
involved in the crises; 4) Recommending appropriate
sanctions; 5) Examining the roles of states and local
governments and traditional authorities; 6) Providing
recommendations to improve existing security arrangements;
and 7) Providing recommendations on other measures to secure
peace and facilitate reconciliation between communities.



6. (C) According to Sufi, the body will have the power to
summon witnesses and compel testimony. Sufi stated the
Commission will not only investigate the Benue tragedy but
also incidents of communal conflict in the other states as
well. Stressing the Commission's judicial quality, Sufi
mentioned the panel was not limited to trying to reconcile
the disputant ethnic groups. The Commission would have the
authority to investigate any criminal act within the scope of
its mandate. While not empowered to conduct criminal
proceedings itself, the Commission was expected to recommend
to the federal government, via the Justice Ministry,
appropriate criminal indictments for "anyone" identified as
having committed criminal acts.



7. (C) The Commission has already collected 37 written
submissions from interested parties. Sufi expected the
Commission to receive many more. The Commission would
actively solicit contributions from important individuals,
such as traditional rulers and local community leaders, who
might not be well-versed in the functions of a judicial
commission but whose input would be important to furnishing
the Commission with an accurate picture of the problems in
the affected areas. Sufi stated that the Commission not only
anticipated receipt of reports averring particular incidents
of abuse or violence but more far-reaching submissions
offering policy suggestions to curb the conflicts. He said
the Commission would ask institutions, such as the Institute
for Peace and Conflict Resolution and the National Institute
for Policy and Strategic Studies, to provide such position
papers.



8. (C) Sufi commented that he had reviewed the Human Rights
Watch report on the Benue massacre. He did not think the
Commission would actively seek contributions from HRW or
other international human rights groups. He maintained that
the HRW report was based primarily on work done by Nigerian
groups. The commission already had received reports from
several domestic human rights organs. The Commission would
request submissions directly from other local groups whose
work that helped informed the HRW report but who had not yet
provided any report to the Commission, he emphasized.

9. (C) The GON had not placed any time limits on the panel's
investigative mandate, giving the body wide latitude
regarding how far it wanted to dig into the past history of
these conflicts. Sufi remarked that many of these conflicts
had been brewing for decades. The panel might have to dig
relatively deep to appropriately understand some of these
conflicts and to provide suggestions to the GON on resolving
these quarrels. The Federal Government also had not set a
timeframe for the Commission to finish its work, preferring
the body take the time needed to get the job done, Sufi
opined. He expected that shortly after the group reconvened
April 29, they would begin their public work. Sufi said the
Commission was contemplating holding public hearings for
approximately one week in each of the states.



10. (C) After the visits to the states, the group would
return to Abuja to digest the information gathered on the
four-state circuit ride and then continue public sittings
here. The public hearings in Abuja would allow groups not
heard in the states to present evidence and would give the
Commission an opportunity to summon persons and organizations
implicated in criminal acts to present testimony. These
people and groups would be afforded the right of counsel at
the hearings. Sufi hoped the hearings in the states would
begin in May. He did not know how long the hearings in Abuja
might take. However, once they were finished, the Commission
would promptly present a report to the President.



11. (C) After expressing some frustration over the earlier
delay in getting the Commission's judicial support and
resources from the Supreme Court, Sufi voiced optimism that
the body would be effective and fulfill its terms of
reference. He noted that the members selected made for a
"good composition," and he clearly held Justice Opene in
esteem. He also praised Minister of State for Army
Batagarawa's efforts to help furnish much-needed logistical
support for the Commission.



12. (C) COMMENT: Nigerian judicial commissions have a history
of being very deliberate in their proceedings. However,
Batagarawa clearly understands the importance that we attach
to the efficacy and impartiality of this tribunal in
promoting the rule of law and investigating what happened in
Benue last October (and in the other states before and
after). While in a perfect world, we would have preferred
that Sufi have no ties to the Ministry of Defense, this is
not a perfect place, and his connections to the Ministry
might facilitate a level of cooperation that might not
otherwise exist. We will sustain contact with Sufi and
monitor the Commission to make sure the link to the Ministry
does not have a corrosive impact on the panel's independence.
END COMMENT.
Andrews