Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sent a complaint to the United Nations Working Group over what the organization described as “the arbitrary detention and degrading treatment of deposed Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi (II).”
SERAP in a statement on Thursday by the Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, disclosed the communication of a complaint dated March 11, 2020, to Mr. José Guevara Bermúdez, Chairman/Rapporteur of the Working Group, SERAP protested that the continued detention of Emir Muhamamd Sanusi II is a violation of his human rights.
SERAP in the statement argued: “The Nigerian and Kano State authorities have violated the following rights under the Nigerian Constitution, 1999 (as amended) and international law in continuing to detain Emir Sanusi: the right to be free from arbitrary detention; the right to freedom of movement; and the right to due process of law.
“The detention of Emir Sanusi constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of his liberty because it does not have any legal justification. The detention also does not meet minimum international standards of due process.”
SERAP, then, called on UN Working Group to “initiate a procedure involving the investigation of Emir Sanusi’s case, and urgently send an allegation letter to the Nigerian and Kano State authorities inquiring about the case generally, and specifically, about the legal basis for his arrest, detention, and degrading treatment, each of which is in violation of international law.”
SERAP asked the group to issue an opinion declaring that Emir Sanusi’s deprivation of liberty and detention is arbitrary and in violation of Nigeria’s Constitution and obligations under international law.
The organization also requested the Working Group to call for Emir Sanusi’s immediate release.
SERAP further demanded the UN to request the Nigerian and Kano State authorities to award Emir Sanusi adequate compensation for the violations he has endured as a result of his unlawful arrest, arbitrary detention, and degrading treatment.