06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Generally human rights groups could investigate human rights cases without restriction ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 19888]

"A number of domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials generally were cooperative and responsive to their views. Criticism of the government's human rights record was abundant in various media. Human rights activists reported that their interactions with the federal government were acceptable, but should be more frequent. However, the environment for interaction was still tense, and human rights groups were reluctant to form a close relationship with the government."

Document(s): Open document

06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

List of NGOs active in Nigeria ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 19889]

"Numerous domestic and international NGOs were active in the country. Significant NGOs included Amnesty International (AI), the Campaign for Democracy, the Center for Law Enforcement Education (CLEEN), the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, Global Rights, Human Rights Watch (HRW), Women Trafficking and Child Labor Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF), and the Women's Consortium of Nigeria. The NGOs were generally independent of the government although some, such as WOTCLEF, which the vice president's wife chaired, had close government ties."

Document(s): Open document

08.2006 - Source: Norwegian Country of Origin Information Center

The position of the National Human Rights Commission ("Report on Fact-finding trip to Nigeria (Abuja, Lagos and Benin City) 12-26 March 2006") [ID 18698]

"Bukhari Bello (NHRC) explained that the commission is sponsored by the government, but formally independent. He told us that so far, he has never experienced any serious confrontations with government figures because of the commission “going too far”, but stated that the lack of adequate funding for the commission’s work was clearly a way of interfering with them."

Document(s): Open document

23.05.2006 - Source: Amnesty International

Return to civilian rule in 1999 gave human rights defenders greater freedom to operate, but access to official information and sensitive sites remains too restricted ("Annual Report 2006") [ID 17610]

"Following a visit to Nigeria in May, the UN Special Representative on human rights defenders said that the return to civilian rule in 1999 had given human rights defenders greater freedom to operate, but that access to official information and to sensitive sites – of forced evictions, oil spills or intercommunal violence, for example – remained too restricted."

Document(s): Open document

08.03.2006 - Source: US Department of State

Domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without government restriction ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2005") [#46036],  [ID 17407]

"A number of domestic and international human rights groups generally operated without government restriction, investigating and publishing their findings on human rights cases. Government officials generally were cooperative and responsive to their views. Criticism of the government's human rights record was abundant in various media. Human rights activists reported that their interactions with the federal government had improved, but should be more frequent. The government selectively included some human rights groups in the National Political Reform Conference. However, the environment for interaction was still tense, and human rights groups were reluctant to form a close relationship with the government. Numerous domestic and international NGOs were active in the country. Significant NGOs included AI Nigeria, the Campaign for Democracy, the Center for Law Enforcement Education (CLEEN), the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR), Women Trafficking and Child Labor Eradication Foundation (WOTCLEF), and the Women's Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON). The NGOs were generally independent of the government, although some, such as WOTCLEF, which the vice president's wife chaired, had close government ties."

Document(s): Open document