Deaths of 37 Detainees: Avocats Sans Frontières France Calls for Strict Independent Investigation 

Many of those who died were reportedly between 14 and 18 years old. Survivors have described a desperate struggle to breathe inside an overcrowded cell and repeated calls for assistance as detainees began collapsing. While the NSCDC has attributed the deaths to a suspected disease outbreak, the precise circumstances and causes of death remain to be established. The Federal Government has announced an investigation and suspended the Niger State NSCDC Commandant pending its outcome.

The State bears a heightened responsibility for protecting persons deprived of their liberty. Once individuals are placed in government custody, authorities assume responsibility for safeguarding their lives, health and physical integrity. The deaths therefore raise serious questions not only about their immediate medical causes, but also whether authorities took all reasonable measures to prevent foreseeable harm and respond effectively to distress.

ASF France welcomes the decision to investigate but stresses that deaths in State custody require a prompt, independent, impartial and effective investigation. The investigation must examine individual acts or omissions as well as possible institutional and systemic failures, including detention conditions, overcrowding, ventilation, access to water and medical care, monitoring, emergency response and the conduct of officials within the chain of command.

Rule 71 of the United Nations Nelson Mandela Rules requires every custodial death to be reported to an authority independent of the prison administration and subjected to a prompt, impartial and effective investigation, with relevant evidence preserved. The Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death (2016) similarly requires an independent and thorough investigation capable of determining whether failures by State authorities, including failures to take reasonable preventive measures, contributed to the deaths.

“When people die in State custody, the State has a heightened responsibility to establish what happened and why. The investigation must go beyond identifying the immediate medical cause of death and examine whether failures by individuals, institutions or the wider system contributed to the loss of life. Where people are under government control, preventable deaths demand accountability.”

ASF France calls on the Nigerian authorities to:

• ensure an independent investigation, free from the influence of anyone potentially implicated;

• examine individual, institutional and chain-of-command responsibility, including possible failures to provide safe detention conditions and timely emergency assistance;

• immediately preserve all relevant evidence, including custody and medical records, CCTV footage and communications;

• conduct appropriate independent forensic examinations and autopsies;

• protect surviving detainees and witnesses from intimidation or retaliation;

• keep families informed and provide appropriate access to the investigation; and

• ensure accountability, effective remedies and measures to prevent recurrence where violations are established.

Every person deprived of liberty is entitled to humane treatment and protection of their life and dignity. Avocats Sans Frontières France works worldwide to promote and protect fundamental human rights and access to justice, including for persons deprived of their liberty. ASF France will continue to monitor this case and urges the Nigerian authorities to ensure transparency, accountability and justice for the deceased, their families and surviving detainees.

Signed

Angela Uzoma-Iwuchukwu

Country Director

Avocats Sans Frontières France

For enquiries: office.nigeria@avocatssansfrontieres-france.org