Thank you, Chair.
CSW welcomes the opportunity to participate in this forum and thanks the panelists for their insights and contributions so far.
There are a number of possible underlying root causes to contemporary conflicts involving minorities, as outlined in the first Independent Expert on Minority Issue’s report to the 16th session of the Human Rights Council and in subsequent studies, documentation and reporting including ‘Pathways to Peace’ referred to earlier.
CSW wishes to bring the Forum’s attention to religious extremism, with a particular focus on the situation in northern and central Nigeria.
In Nigeria, the ongoing severity of the security crisis in the country includes longstanding systemic and systematic violations of the rights of ethno-religious minorities in the north and central regions, and unabated attacks by armed non-state actors, including assailants of Fulani origin, and members of the Boko Haram, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Ansaru terrorist organisations.
CSW is particularly concerned by violence against vulnerable communities in central states in Nigeria, observed over the past decade, has been driven by a variety of factors, but the role of religious extremism is now undeniable; predominantly Christian ethnic minority communities in central Nigeria have endured lethal violence and abductions since 2010 which have now spread southwards.
The perpetrators of the violence primarily comprise ethnic Fulani Muslims for whom religion functions either as a recruitment factor or a governing ethos, while the victims are predominantly Christian.
The conflict has also metastasised, occasioning similar death and displacement in Muslim communities of Hausa ethnicity in north-western states, and a general rise in abductions for ransom across the country by assailants of predominantly Fulani origin.
There are also genuine concerns that the Fulani militia have cemented ties with terrorist factions in the north-east.
In conflict situations, a lack of state protection or poor implementation of existing human rights provisions further expose minorities to violence and discrimination.
In the context of Nigeria, the security situation has been exacerbated by inadequate action on behalf of the current administration, whose leader has consistently failed to protect those who do not share his brand of religion, or his ethnicity.
As a result, violations have increased exponentially under the current regime, and thousands have died and tens of thousands have been displaced by violence since 2015.
It is essential that the Nigerian government does far more to crack down on narratives and practices which embolden religious extremists and reinforce religious division and intolerance.
CSW urges the government to respond adequately to the violence in the country’s northern and central states, ensuring that armed forces are sufficiently equipped and mandated to combat the threat posed by all armed non-state actors, and applying to the international community for assistance where needed.
The government also must bring to an end violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief in the country’s Shari’a states in particular, where Christians continue to face a host of violations, including the abduction, forced conversion and marriage without parental consent of underage girls, and land seizures without compensation.
We urge the forum to promote early intervention to address discrimination and violence against minorities. Early warning mechanisms should trigger a call to action; we should not wait for violence to commence before taking robust action against extremism or any other root causes to conflict.
Thank you.