Recommendations

To the Nigerian Government

• Provide access to adequate medical and mental health services to victims of abduction and other violence; develop confidential referral systems and health posts in high-risk areas, such as large or isolated internally displaced persons’ (IDP) camps, which can facilitate referrals and access to emergency treatment for women who are victims of sexual violence.
• Ensure that hospitals and clinics treating civilian victims are equipped with medical supplies to treat post-rape care in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) standards and ensure that all facilities have procedures in place to respond to sexual violence, including Post-exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) kits. All services should have trained staff to deliver confidential and comprehensive medical treatment and psychosocial support. If and when services are not available, facilities should have adequate referral systems to ensure survivors can access confidential care.
• Provide specialized training for healthcare and social service providers to ensure care, treatment, and support to women and child survivors. Training should include both individual and community approaches where needed.
• Ensure that public information is available about the legal and physical consequences of abductions, and how victims can access free functioning services.
• Implement the provisions of the National Action Plan including those related to UNSCR 1325 and other related resolutions in Nigeria, particularly with regard to ensuring the full and meaningful participation of women in all peace and security discussions.
• Enact legislation to domesticate the International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute, which Nigeria ratified in 2001, including criminalizing under Nigerian law genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, consistent with the International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute definitions. Ensure such laws apply retroactively at least until July 2002, the date the Rome Statute entered into force for Nigeria.
• Establish an independent commission of inquiry to investigate general allegations of violations of human rights and humanitarian law by government security forces and recommend measures to ensure they do not recur.
• Ensure the investigation and prosecution, based on international fair trial standards, of members of Boko Haram and pro-government vigilante groups who commit serious crimes in violation of international law during the conflict.
• Develop adequate protection measures, including protection programs and psychological support, before, during, and after the trial for all victims and witnesses whose physical safety and psychological well-being are at risk. This should include, but not be limited to, relocation measures.
• Develop and implement the Joint Humanitarian Action Plan (JHAP), and ensure effective coordination of national response to the northeast conflict through the JHAP sector working groups.
• Any military strategy to rescue any abducted civilian must be planned with critical human rights and protection concerns in mind to protect the right to life of all civilians including any who risk being caught up in the crossfire.
• The Nigerian government should ensure availability and accessibility of schools, promptly implement the Safe Schools Initiative, and work with the school authorities, community leaders, and parents to ensure better security for the northeast region’s schools.
• Refrain from using schools and universities for military purposes and issue clear military orders to this effect. Support the development and eventual implementation of the Lucens Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use During Armed Conflict.
• Make public the report of its fact-finding committee on the abduction of Chibok schoolgirls, and provide all residents including relatives of the missing students with public updates on efforts to recover the girls to regain the community’s trust.
• Take proactive steps to implement the plans, including the recently launched Victim Support Fund, for the rehabilitation and reintegration of abducted women and girls, and other victims of violence including forcefully recruited young men and boys.
• Ensure the passage and application of the Child Rights Act in all states of the federation, and bring national laws relating to the rights of women into compliance with the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of Women in Africa, and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women.
• Take reasonable steps in line with Nigeria’s responsibility under international human rights law to protect all those in Nigeria’s territory from violence, but should not use excessive force, mistreat and torture detainees, or conduct arbitrary arrests in quelling the Boko Haram threat.
• Establish a unit in the Ministry of Justice to document the prosecution of Boko Haram suspects at all levels of government, and collate information of insurgency related arrests, detentions, and extrajudicial killings to aid future prosecutions.

To the Nigerian Police

• Conduct interviews with all victims of Boko Haram abductions to aid prompt and thorough investigation of abuses they suffer, and ensure adequate safeguards against further traumatization.
• Launch public information and education campaigns, and hold public meetings with the community to encourage reporting violence against women to police, military courts, and other authorities.
• Prioritize the investigation and prosecution of allegations of sexual and gender-based violence.
• Train police and prosecutors to promptly and thoroughly investigate cases of sexual and gender-based violence.
Establish a community intake unit with a sufficient number of female police officers and other female personnel to receive and process information from members of the community about abductions and sexual and gender-based violence in a confidential manner at police stations.

To Boko Haram

• Halt all attacks against non-combatants and release immediately all civilians in its custody.
• End all forced marriages and forced conversion of women and girls, and hold combatants responsible for sexual abuse and rape accountable, in line with international standards.
• Immediately cease all attacks, and threats of attacks, that target civilians or civilian property.
• Take all necessary steps to comply with the principles of international humanitarian and human rights law including handing over all persons suspected of war crimes for prosecution.
• Cease all attacks on the right to freedom of expression and religion, such as forced conversions, targeting of Christians and destruction of churches.
• Cease all attacks on schools, killing of students and teachers, or threats that undermine children’s right to education.

To the International Community – including the United Nations, European Union, United States, and United Kingdom

• Encourage and support the establishment of an independent commission of inquiry to investigate allegations of international human rights and humanitarian law violations by government security forces and recommend measures to ensure they do not recur.
• Encourage and support transparent investigations and prosecution of perpetrators of human rights violations by Boko Haram, and pro-government vigilante groups.
• Ensure that support to the Nigerian government forms part of a fully integrated strategy aimed at assisting all of the victims of abductions and sexual abuse through prosecutions of those responsible, the provision of comprehensive support to victims, and action to strengthen the rights of women and girls.
• Ensure that support to the Nigerian security forces to deal with Boko Haram and to assist abducted women and girls is fully consistent with international human rights standards. No support should be provided to abusive elements of the security forces.
• Support training for Nigerian police and prosecutors to conduct basic investigations of crimes, including sexual and gender-based violence.
• Work with the Nigerian government to ensure that development assistance to Nigeria helps to increase educational opportunities for girls and combats gender and other forms of discrimination in education.
• Ensure that assistance to Nigeria supports the development of improved healthcare for women and girls, especially those who have been victims of sexual violence and abuse.
• Urge the Nigerian government to bring national laws relating to the rights of women and children into compliance with international standards.
• Encourage and support Nigerian government’s effort to make schools safer.
• Encourage and support the provision of post-trauma, psycho-social and mental health services for victims of sexual violence and abuse.
• Encourage and support the coordination of humanitarian aid and support to victims of the Boko Haram conflict through the JHAP sector working groups.

To the International Criminal Court

• Continue to monitor and assess the government’s efforts to fairly and credibly hold perpetrators to account, including through periodic visits to Nigeria.
• Continue to press Nigeria, consistent with its obligations under the Rome Statute and the principle of complementarity, to ensure that individuals implicated in serious crimes committed in violation of international law are investigated and prosecuted according to international fair trial standards.