Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09ABUJA945
2009-06-01 15:13:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Abuja
Cable title:  

NIGERIA: ICRC SAYS MEDIA IS EXAGGERATING CIVILIAN

Tags:  PREL PGOV PHUM ICRC NI 
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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)

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