NIGERIA: ICRC SAYS MEDIA IS EXAGGERATING CIVILIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000945 SIPDIS DEPT FOR AF/W, INR/AA BAGHDAD FOR DMCCULLOUGH E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/22/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ICRC NI SUBJECT: NIGERIA: ICRC SAYS MEDIA IS EXAGGERATING CIVILIAN CASUALTIES IN DELTA ABUJA 00000945 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Political Counselor Walter N.S. Pflaumer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) On May 28, DATT, Marine Attache, and Poloff met with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) head of delegation in Nigeria Jacques Villettaz and Communications Director Anahita Kar to discuss their view of the humanitarian situation in the Niger Delta as a result of the Joint Task Force's (JTF) ongoing activities against militant/criminal camps. The ICRC recently sent a team down to Delta State to investigate reports of large scale collateral damage and internally displaced people. The ICRC also had access to other NGO reports as well, including those of the Nigerian Red Cross, Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF), and the Stakeholders Democracy Network. The ICRC team had full access to areas west of Warri, Delta State, and could confirm only six civilian dead, while the Nigerian Red Cross had been allowed access to all areas up to and including Tom Polo's Camp Five, now occupied by the JTF. The Nigerian Red Cross team reportedly saw little evidence of violence against non-combatants, though only a few people -- all women -- came out of the bush to receive the aid they offered, with many apparently preferring the safety of the swamps to returning to village life, for the moment. Their biggest concern, they said, was caring for the wounded, and there was indeed one confirmed report by MSF of JTF soldiers taking a wounded civilian out of one of their medical facilities for interrogation. ICRC had also heard reports, at this point unconfirmed and presently considered unreliable rumors, that military trucks had dumped bodies in the swamps, whether they were those of civilians or militants was unknown. DATT is scheduled to travel to Rivers and Delta States with other foreign defense attaches soon as part of a GON-sponsored visit. We will likely get more information from that trip. ¶2. (C) Both ICRC representatives said that the media appeared to have greatly overstated the actual numbers of civilian casualties and damage to civilian structures, and that "in praise of the JTF" they were "pleasantly surprised" at what appeared to be the true situation on the ground. They said that some civilian casualties were inevitable, if militants/criminals did as Tom Polo reportedly did, bringing in large numbers of non-combatants to live in their camps. They attributed the inaccuracy in the press partially to an inherent bias toward non-governmental actors, a sort of "freedom fighter fancy," that Villettaz also said he saw during his tenure as ICRC rep in Afghanistan, where journalists wrote stories he considered unduly favorable to the Taliban. The public relations sophistication of the Delta's armed gangs far exceeded that of the GON, and their ability to spin information often won them the day in the eyes of the international community. The ICRC would like to believe, they said, that if it's true that the JTF is doing a better job of adhering to international humanitarian law (IHL),it's at least partially due to the greater access the ICRC has had to the Nigerian armed forces over the past year, providing in-depth IHL education to all levels of personnel. (Note: DAO contacts report that the JTF is indeed taking IHL seriously, to the point of immediately disciplining and even removing from command those personnel deemed to have been insufficiently attentive to human rights. End note.) ¶3. (C) Comment: Post continues to receive mixed reports of what is really happening, ICRC and media beliefs aside. On the one hand, it does appear that the JTF is taking a different approach toward the rights of non-combatants than it has in the past; on the other we have reason to believe that some villages have been hard-hit and the number of civilian dead is likely significantly higher than the ICRC believes -- it may take some time to get the full picture, if we ever get it at all. For the moment, it appears that perhaps a combination of ICRC IHL courses and the training Nigerian soldiers are receiving from their foreign counterparts might indeed be producing a JTF campaign that leaves behind a lower civilian body count. They may also be realizing the value of a more professional military that provides less fodder for the likes of reputed MEND spokesman ABUJA 00000945 002.2 OF 002 Jomo Gbomo and others, allegedly speaking for the armed gangs and/or militants, who have handily won the battle in the Nigerian and international press up until now. End comment. ¶4. (U) This cable was coordinated with Consulate Lagos. SANDERS