Statement by His Excellency Archbishop Silvano M.
Tomasi
Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United
Nations and
Other International Organizations in Geneva
at the 23rd
Special Session of the Human Rights Council on the Situation of Human Rights in
Nigeria – Boko Haram
Geneva,
1 April 2015
Mr. President,
The
ongoing violence, persecution and murder at the hands of the Boko Haram group
especially in Nigeria, but also in Cameroon, Benin, Chad and Niger, present serious
transgressions under international law, including war crimes and crimes against
humanity which require an urgent and effective response from the involved
States, together with the solidarity of the international community. With the merciless acts of this terrorist
group, we are witnessing the continued development and
dissemination of a radical and ruthless type of extremism inspired by an
ideology which attempts to justify its crimes in the name of religion. Furthermore, with the recent explicit
allegiance of Boko Haram to the so-called Islamic State group (ISIS), one
cannot be blind to the fact that such extremists groups are growing like a cancer,
spreading to other parts of the world and even attracting foreign militants to
fight in their ranks.
Nigeria,
in particular, has “had to confront considerable problems, among them new and
violent forms of extremism and fundamentalism on ethnic, social and religious
grounds. Many Nigerians have been
killed, wounded or mutilated, kidnapped and deprived of everything: their loved
ones, their land, their means of subsistence, their dignity and their
rights. Many have not been able to
return to their homes.”[1] These crimes perpetrated at the hands of Boko
Haram have been continuing with impunity and, as witnessed in the last 12
months, have only increased in their intensity and destructive effects. As Pope Francis noted, the tragedy faced in
Nigeria at the hands of these extremists “is a scourge which needs to be
eradicated, since it strikes all of us, from individual families to the international
community.”[2]
Crimes
in the “name of religion” are never justified.
Massacring innocent people in the name of God is not religion but the manipulation
of religion for ulterior motives. In
fact, “believers, both Christians and Muslim, have experienced a common tragic
outcome, at the hands of people who claim to be religious, but who instead
abuse religion, to make of it an ideology for their own distorted interests of
exploitation and murder.”[3]
Mr. President,
Notwithstanding
the military efforts of the Nigerian government to stop these terrorists, even
with the recently formed alliance of a Multinational Joint Task Force composed
of neighbouring countries also threatened by Boko Haram, the extremists
continue their fury of violence, creating evermore instability in Western
Africa. Such a situation clearly poses a
dangerous uncertainty to the whole region and even beyond. Without swift, decisive and combined action
on the part of the Nigerian government, its bordering countries, the African
Union and the United Nations, the serious threat of violence will only continue
to jeopardize the lives of millions of civilians throughout that region.
It
appears that the time is ripe for the international community to assist in
bringing an end to the violence, which has caused numerous civilian victims. Before such violations of international human
rights and humanitarian laws, we cannot afford to have a posture of indifference
that would lead to the widening contagion of violence and also set a dangerous
precedent of “non-action” in response to such horrific crimes.
The
Holy See encourages an international collaborative effort to address this crisis
situation with urgency so as to prevent the extension of Boko Haram and other
terrorist groups and their strategy of inflicting suffering on the local people
and to destabilize Africa even further.
Thank you, Mr. President.
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