Perpetrators and Criminally Responsible Persons:
(a) Inspector General of Police, Nigerian Police Force
(b) The Director General of the Nigerian State Security Service
THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL
COURT2516 AB, The Hague
The Netherlands
TO THE OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTOR
Communications and claims
Under art.15 of the Rome Statute
Information and Evidence Unit
Office of the Prosecutor
Post Office Box 19519
2500 CM The Hague
The Netherlands
Email: otp.informationdesk@icc-cpi.int
Communications and claims
Under art.15 of the Rome Statute
Information and Evidence Unit
Office of the Prosecutor
Post Office Box 19519
2500 CM The Hague
The Netherlands
Email: otp.informationdesk@icc-cpi.int
Complaint Against The Following Officers Of Nigerian Security Forces For Crimes Against Humanity In Connection With The Extra-Judicial Executions Of Members Of An Organization Known As Movemebr For Actualization Of The Sovereign State Of Biafra (MASSOB):
Perpetrators and Criminally Responsible Persons:
(a) Inspector General of Police, Nigerian Police Force
(b) The Director General of the Nigerian State Security Service
(c) The Commissioner of Police for Anambra State, Nigeria, Bala Nassarawa.
(d) The Police Commander in Charge of Nigerian Police Unit Known as Special Anti-armed Robbery Squad (SARS) for Anambra State.
(e) The Police Public Relations Officer for Anambra, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka.
(f) Any other person or official criminally responsible for the crimes alleged in this Complaint.
(a) Inspector General of Police, Nigerian Police Force
(b) The Director General of the Nigerian State Security Service
(c) The Commissioner of Police for Anambra State, Nigeria, Bala Nassarawa.
(d) The Police Commander in Charge of Nigerian Police Unit Known as Special Anti-armed Robbery Squad (SARS) for Anambra State.
(e) The Police Public Relations Officer for Anambra, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka.
(f) Any other person or official criminally responsible for the crimes alleged in this Complaint.
Complainant:
The Complainant, undersigned, is a member in good standing of the Bar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and licensed to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States. He practices law in Maryland, United States, and in Nigeria. He will represent as Counsel the persons whose bodies were dumped in the Ezu River, subject of this Complaint. By the very nature of the incident, the crimes involved and the position of the perpetrators and the complicity of the Government, it is not practicable to seek redress for the victims and their families within the Nigerian domestic courts.
The Complainant, undersigned, is a member in good standing of the Bar of the Supreme Court of Nigeria and licensed to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States. He practices law in Maryland, United States, and in Nigeria. He will represent as Counsel the persons whose bodies were dumped in the Ezu River, subject of this Complaint. By the very nature of the incident, the crimes involved and the position of the perpetrators and the complicity of the Government, it is not practicable to seek redress for the victims and their families within the Nigerian domestic courts.
Introduction:
1. THIS is a Complaint for crimes against humanity covered under Article 7(1) of the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court (hereinafter the “Statute”). The Complaint is submitted to the office of the Prosecutor for the purpose of prompting the provisions of Article 15 of the Statute, which is the requisite predicate event for an investigation by the Prosecutor.
1. THIS is a Complaint for crimes against humanity covered under Article 7(1) of the Rome Statute of International Criminal Court (hereinafter the “Statute”). The Complaint is submitted to the office of the Prosecutor for the purpose of prompting the provisions of Article 15 of the Statute, which is the requisite predicate event for an investigation by the Prosecutor.
2. On or around January 19, 2013, the villagers discovered
fifty human bodies floating in a river, known as Ezu River, located at the
boundary between Enugu State and Anambra State, in the Eastern part of Nigeria.
The day following the first discovery, more bodies were discovered floating in
similar fashion in the same area. A total of over hundred bodies were
discovered floating in the Ezu River between January 18 and January 22, 2013.
3. The bodies were of young men between ages 20 and 35
years. Most of the bodies were found dressed in boxer shots with their upper
bodies naked. There were no reported clashes between the villages or
communities in the area that could have justified the killings of able bodied
men in that age bracket. There was no reported incident of struggles, screams
or commotion in the area around the time the bodies were dumped in the river.
It was clear that the bodies were deliberately dumped in the river on the
evening of January 18, 2013 because the villagers in the community along the
river did not sight any bodies on January 18 and the villagers rely on the
river for their water supply and frequent it during the day time.
4. It is probable that the victims were killed in a
controlled environment such as inside a cell or a police station, which was why
the victims did not try to escape and there were no signs of struggles. Also,
given that they were mostly dressed in boxer shorts, it implied that they were
assembled together at some point and settled for a while before the killings
occurred. Nobody heard the gunshots. Nobody heard of the screams. Nobody
witnessed the killings except the killers and the victims. The victims were all
dressed alike. In fact, boxers are what inmates wear when they are in detention
in Nigeria police cells because the cells are usually hot with poor
ventilation.
5. Within the same day of extracting these bodies from the
river, the Nigerian police hurriedly buried them in a mass grave without any
inquiries into the circumstances under which the victims were killed.
Though it would be easy to determine that hundred bodies suddenly found a small
river, no more than 25 feet in width at the spot the bodies were found, could
not have been otherwise than by foul play, the Nigerian Government authorities
and the police have remained mute over the incident, lending early credence to
the fear that these victims were massacred by the Nigerian police in
conjunction with the State Security Service (hereinafter the “SSS”).
6. Within one week after the discovery of these bodies, the
members of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra
(MASSOB) claimed that the corpses belonged to its members that were arrested
and detained by security agencies in Anambra State in November of 2012. In its
first reaction to the discovery of the corpses, MASSOB said the corpses were
bodies of its members, who were never released from detention or charged to
court by the police.
7. The Director of Information, MASSOB, Mr. Uchenna Madu,
said the movement had petitioned the Secretary General of the United Nations,
Ban Ki-Moon; President Barack Obama; the United Nations Human Rights
Commission; and Amnesty International, protesting the mass killing of its
members by Nigerian security agencies. He gave the names of MASSOB members the
movement suspected to be among those killed and dumped in the Ezu River to
include Basil Ogbu, Michael Ogwa, Sunday Omogo, Philip Nwankpa, Eze Ndubisi,
Ebuka Eze, Obinna Ofor, Joseph Udoh and Uchechukwu Ejiofor. He said they were
arrested at MASSOB security office at Onitsha Anambra State on November 9, 2012,
by a combined team of the army, police and State Security Service men and
handed over to the State Anti-Robbery Squad headquarters, Awkuzu Anambra State,
where they were detained until their disappearance.
8. According to MASSOB, “Efforts by our counsel to secure
their bail from the police proved futile. Our demands for their arraignment
before a competent court of law were frustrated by SARS officers. They claimed
that the court was not sitting because of Christmas. We got information from an
insider at SARS headquarters, Awkuzu, that armless MASSOB members detained at
SARS were secretly killed alongside other robbery suspects.”
9. Despite the overwhelming evidence of mass murder, the
Nigerian police have adopted a technique of denial and cover-up and have
declined to discharge their functions of conducting an investigation because
they were culpable in the extra-judicial killings of the victims. As part of
that program of cover-up, the Police Public Relations Officer for Anambra
State, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka, dismissed the claims of MASSOB, saying the police
were still waiting for the report of the autopsy carried out on the corpses
dumped in the river. What the police adamantly refused to do was to produce
those MASSOB members in their custody to show that they were not killed. But
the police failed to address that because indeed, those men were among the
people killed and dumped in the river.
10. The extra-judicial executions of these victims
were systematically organized and was done with the knowledge and approval of
the Police and State Security High Command, as part of widespread and sustained
program of persecution aimed at eliminating, extermination and suppressing any
quest among any group of Igbos for a separate state of Biafra. The specific fates
of these victims took about three months to plan and implement. About 180
members of MASSOB were arrested by a combined team of soldiers, policemen and
operatives from the SSS in November of last year. Some of those arrested were
released but those who were not released were transferred to a police detention
camp in Awkuzu, Anambra State, which was under the control of the deadly
Nigerian police unit know as SARS, which is an acronym for the “Special
Armed-Robbery Squad”. This is the most brutal and deadly unit of the Nigerian
police force responsible for more than half of extra-judicial executions by the
Nigerian Police. Rather than charge these men to court as is required under
Nigerian laws and Constitution, the Nigerian police did everything to deny them
access to court and to hide information about their places of detention or
whereabouts. These men were held in secret until about January 18, 2013,
when the Nigerian police executed and dumped their bodies in the river.
11. These events are crimes against
humanity with far-reaching significance and they deserve the priority attention
of the Office of the Prosecutor. It is to be noted that it is not clear the
actual number of victims killed. The one hundred figure was based on the number
of bodies found in the river within three days. It was only the means of
disposing the bodies that gave the clue to any number of victims. This is the
only known occasion in the context of extra-judicial killings by the Nigerian
police where so many bodies were attempted to be disposed of through dumping
them in a small river. Otherwise, Nigerian police had disposed of their other
victims of extra-judicial executions by other means. It is totally probable
that other bodies were disposed of by other means apart from dumping them in
the river. That gives credence to the probability that more than 100 people
were killed by the Nigerian police around the same period.
12. Further, the Nigerian security
services continue to arrest and detain more members of MASSOB and it is likely
that current and future detainees could be similarly executed by the Nigerian
police. In the absence of an investigation by the Prosecutor and indictment of
those responsible, hundreds more and even thousands of innocent and
unarmed civilians would be killed extra-judicially by the Nigerian
security officers.
13. The following links
contain stories regarding the incident narrated above:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK6_Q3umzSQ
http://www.punchng.com/news/mystery-corpses-were-our-members-massob/
http://elombah.com/index.php/articles-mainmenu/14454-mystery-corpses-dumped-in-ezu-river-were-massob-members
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/igbo-group-seeks-judicial-inquiry-into-bodies-dumped-in-ezu-river/139115/
http://allafrica.com/stories/201302010159.html
http://iam-davinci.blogspot.com/2013/02/massob-claims-bodies-found-floating-ezu.html
http://www.theadvocatengr.com/index.php/component/k2/item/567-the-‘mystery’-on-ezu-river-where-did-the-floating-dead-bodies-come-from
http://www.elombah.com/index.php/write-for-us/14518-ezu-river-corpses-police-denies-arresting-massob-named-dead-members
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK6_Q3umzSQ
http://www.punchng.com/news/mystery-corpses-were-our-members-massob/
http://elombah.com/index.php/articles-mainmenu/14454-mystery-corpses-dumped-in-ezu-river-were-massob-members
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/igbo-group-seeks-judicial-inquiry-into-bodies-dumped-in-ezu-river/139115/
http://allafrica.com/stories/201302010159.html
http://iam-davinci.blogspot.com/2013/02/massob-claims-bodies-found-floating-ezu.html
http://www.theadvocatengr.com/index.php/component/k2/item/567-the-‘mystery’-on-ezu-river-where-did-the-floating-dead-bodies-come-from
http://www.elombah.com/index.php/write-for-us/14518-ezu-river-corpses-police-denies-arresting-massob-named-dead-members
Historical Background:
14. The origin of the persecution of MASSOB members by Nigerian security forces goes back to the Nigerian civil war between 1967 and 1970. Nigeria is a country ravaged by ethnic and religious conflicts, which have often led to major violence between the ethnic groups. Less than six years after gaining its independence, Nigeria was plunged into political crisis that culminated in pogroms and genocidal massacre of millions of people mostly of the Igbo ethnicity by fellow Nigerians of some of the other ethnicities. These events ultimately lead to the Nigerian civil war that lasted for 30 months. A portion of Nigeria, mostly the Igbo constituted themselves into an entity known as Biafra and attempted to secede from Nigeria and establish its sovereignty. And there broke out a civil war.
14. The origin of the persecution of MASSOB members by Nigerian security forces goes back to the Nigerian civil war between 1967 and 1970. Nigeria is a country ravaged by ethnic and religious conflicts, which have often led to major violence between the ethnic groups. Less than six years after gaining its independence, Nigeria was plunged into political crisis that culminated in pogroms and genocidal massacre of millions of people mostly of the Igbo ethnicity by fellow Nigerians of some of the other ethnicities. These events ultimately lead to the Nigerian civil war that lasted for 30 months. A portion of Nigeria, mostly the Igbo constituted themselves into an entity known as Biafra and attempted to secede from Nigeria and establish its sovereignty. And there broke out a civil war.
15. Since the official end of the Nigerian civil war,
ethnicity has remained the most significant factor of conflict in Nigeria.
Ethnic conflicts and the quest for ethnic domination, leading to the abuse of
the rights of the minority groups, abusive exploitation of natural resources
located in the minorities’ territories without due process and in violation of
international law. Ethnicity also manifests in the blinding exploitation of the
Nigerian masses by a corrupt and self-service political elite that controls the
governance of that country at any point in time to date. This led to poverty
and impoverishment of the masses of the population by their country’s leaders
and their cronies, who failed to steer the country in the direction of
meaningful progress comparable to experiences that obtain elsewhere even in the
region.
16. Nigerian government has historically been a regime that
has used force, fear, torture, and murder and other violations of human rights
in order to prop up its autocratic regimes (whether military or civilian) and
to ensure that the inhumane and barbaric policies and practices of repression,
brutality, exclusion, torture, plunder of the natural resources of the people,
violence, unjust exploitation of their citizens, rigging of elections or
forcible overthrow of elected governments, looting and official corruption, are
imposed upon its unwilling and powerless population.
17. Furthermore, Nigeria frequently defies international
law by engaging in acts and patterns of conduct that clearly violate United Nations
Charter, customary international law and international treaties; and
jeopardizes international peace by engaging in acts that reasonably threaten to
provoke civil wars and potential mass migration of millions of people and
refugee crisis.
18. In sheer frustration, various groups emerged in
different regions of Nigeria in the past 20 years. Each group demanded reforms
and rights recognition and greater control over their natural resources. Some
group threatened violence and actually engaged in violence. MASSOB was
established in the context of that widening discontent among various
groups for better governance and accountability or for a right to secede and
form their own country with full sovereignty.
19. In its own agitation, MASSOB merely demanded in a
non-violent manner the actualization of the sovereignty of Biafra. Its members
believe that the way to overcome the failures of the Nigerian state would be
for the Igbos of Nigeria to have their own country separate from the present
political mass that constitutes Nigeria. Unlike other groups, MASSOB has not
engaged in acts of sabotage against the country of Nigeria. It has not taken up
arms against Nigeria. It has not advocated violent overthrow of the Nigerian
Government. It has not engaged in terrorism. It mere matched and held rallies
to preach their message of sovereignty for Biafra. MASSOB does not command the
attention of most of the Igbo people, in fact. However, a mere mention of the
word Biafra invokes extreme hostility from the government and the Nigerian
security forces. As a result, Nigerian security services have engaged in all
manner of repressive measures against the members of MASSOB. The mere fact that
a person is a member of MASSOB has been a basis for arrests and detentions and
torture and summary executions without trial. The Nigerian security forces have
used extreme and disproportionate force against the unarmed members of MASSOB.
As is seen in the instant case of detainees being executed enmass and dumped in
a river, the Nigerian state has sponsored terrorism against the members of
MASSOB.
20. The dream of Biafra will continue to engage the minds
of many. Anywhere else in human history where so much passion, pain and
suffering were experienced in the context of a struggle like the Nigerian
civil war, where three million people mostly civilians and children died
needlessly, passion will remain for centuries to come. It is not only the
MASSOB people that dream about Biafra. Many other people entertain equal,
albeit opposite, sentiment about Biafra. That is exactly what the Nigerian
security forced do. They seem so fixated on it that, and each time Biafra is
mentioned, they go into a violent overdrive, arresting, torturing and killing unarmed
civilians.
21. From the above premise, it is totally astonishing that
the Nigerian security forces should be spending too much time and energy on
MASSOB. It cannot be what the MASSOB members have done that worries the
government. It is something deep-rooted in the psyche of the Nigerian leaders
that motivates them to attack MASSOB members with such exceptional ferocity,
amounting now to serial violence, persecution and other crimes against
humanity.
22. However the commanders of the Nigeria’s security agencies
may dislike the message of the members of MASSOB, as long as the group does not
engage in violence or advocate violence and does not commit any crimes, there
is no need to subject its members to such extreme pre-emptive violence and
disproportionate use of police and military force. It would seem that other
groups in Nigeria, including those which have used violence to make their
demands have not been persecuted as much as the member of MASSOB have been. For
instance, a group known as MEND engaged in violent attacks against government
installations and openly admitted it. Also, Boko Haram engaged in similar and
more frequent attacks and claimed responsibility for such attacks. MASSOB, on
the other hand, has not been known to engage in or to claim responsibility for
such attacks. Yet, it is MASSOB that the Nigerian security forces appear to
have focused their coercive excesses upon the most. The only logical
explanation for such differential treatment is the residual hatred of the Igbos
by the leaders of Nigeria and apparent continuation of the war of aggression
against the civilian population of the defunct Biafra, not withstanding the
fact that most Igbos have moved on and have been more than prepared to continue
as part of a united Nigerian state.
Particulars of the relevant
crimes against humanity:
23. The actions of Nigerian security forces in this case meet the standards set forth in Article 7 (1) of the Statute. In particular, those false arrests, false detention, denial of access to justice, torture, disappearance, extra-judicial killings and dehumanization of the MASSOB members are among the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole. They warrant and entail individual criminal responsibility, and involve conducts which are impermissible under generally applicable international law, as recognized by the principal legal systems of the world.
23. The actions of Nigerian security forces in this case meet the standards set forth in Article 7 (1) of the Statute. In particular, those false arrests, false detention, denial of access to justice, torture, disappearance, extra-judicial killings and dehumanization of the MASSOB members are among the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole. They warrant and entail individual criminal responsibility, and involve conducts which are impermissible under generally applicable international law, as recognized by the principal legal systems of the world.
24. Also the offenses clearly show evidence of
participation in and knowledge of a widespread or systematic attack against a
civilian population or with an intent to further such attacks. Alternatively,
the acts of violence committed against the members of MASSOB show a course of
conduct involving the multiple commission of acts referred to in article 7,
paragraph 1, of the Statute against any civilian population, pursuant to or in
furtherance of a State or organizational policy to commit such attack and
evidence that the State or its security agencies actively promote or encourage
such an attack against a civilian population.
25. The facts of this case constitute the following crimes
against humanity contrary to Article 7 of the Statute:
Crime Number I (Article 7 (1) (a) Crime against humanity of
murder)
1. The perpetrator killed one or more persons: In this case the Nigerian Government and its security agencies killed at least one hundred unarmed men and dumped their bodies in a river.
1. The perpetrator killed one or more persons: In this case the Nigerian Government and its security agencies killed at least one hundred unarmed men and dumped their bodies in a river.
2. The conduct was committed as part of a widespread
or systematic attack directed against a civilian population.: In this case the
conduct was committed as part of years of persecution of the members of MASSOB,
who are exclusively of Igbo ethnic group, in a well organized and continuing
pattern of state repression against the members of the group.
3. The perpetrator knew that the conduct was part of or
intended the conduct to be part of a widespread or systematic attack against a
civilian population.: The facts of the case would show that the perpetrators of
the heinous crime knew exactly the plan to eliminate and decimate the members
of MASSOB in order to suppress their dream and message about Biafra. Hence,
they planned these executions so methodically by carefully selection the men to
kill, isolating them, refusing to charge them to court, killing them secretly,
and attempting to dispose of their bodies in the night as to avoid detection
and taking various steps to cover their acts, and creating a situation of
uncertain and total mystery over what happened.
Crime Number II, Article 7 (1) (b) Crime against humanity of
extermination
1. The perpetrator killed one or more persons, including by inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population.: The facts of this case clearly meet the requirement of this element of the crime of extermination. The attacks and killings of the victims in this case were clearly aimed against a part of the population of Nigeria.
1. The perpetrator killed one or more persons, including by inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population.: The facts of this case clearly meet the requirement of this element of the crime of extermination. The attacks and killings of the victims in this case were clearly aimed against a part of the population of Nigeria.
2. The conduct constituted, or took place as part of,
a mass killing of members of a civilian population. The facts of this case
substantiate this particular element of the offense.
3. The conduct was committed as part of a widespread
or systematic attack directed against a civilian population.: The facts of this
case and historical background set forth clearly show that the acts were
committed as part of a widespread and systemic persecution against unarmed and
civilian population.
4. The perpetrator knew that the conduct was part of or
intended the conduct to be part of a widespread or systematic attack directed
against a civilian population.: As set forth in the statement of facts in this
case, the perpetrators understood that their conducts were part of a systemic
attack directed at a civilian population, which in this case were members of
MASSOB.
Crime Number III Article 7 (1) (e) Crime against humanity of
imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty
1. The perpetrator imprisoned one or more persons or otherwise severely deprived one or more persons of physical liberty: The officers of the Nigerian police detained the victims since November of 2012, denied them access to courts and their lawyers and subjected them to false imprisonment and fear for their lives, and ultimately killed them.
1. The perpetrator imprisoned one or more persons or otherwise severely deprived one or more persons of physical liberty: The officers of the Nigerian police detained the victims since November of 2012, denied them access to courts and their lawyers and subjected them to false imprisonment and fear for their lives, and ultimately killed them.
2. The gravity of the conduct was such that it was in
violation of fundamental rules of international law.: The detention, torture
and secrete executions of the victims are grave acts in violation of
fundamental rules of international law.
3. The perpetrators were aware of the factual
circumstances that established the gravity of the conduct.: The perpetrators
were fully aware of the facts and circumstances of their actions and inactions
or omissions.
4. The conduct was committed as part of a widespread
or systematic attack directed against a civilian population.: For years,
officers of the Nigerian security forces and their commanders have
systematically targeted the members of the MASSABO, with an intent to
exterminate them.
5. The perpetrator knew that the conduct was part of
or intended the conduct to be part of a widespread or systematic attack directed
against a civilian population.: For years the officers of the Nigerian security
forces were indoctrinated and directed to target the unarmed members of MASSOB
and have been in the practice of arresting and persecuting even under-aged
relatives of members of the organization.
Crime Number IV Article 7 (1) (f) Crime against humanity of
torture
1. The perpetrator inflicted severe physical or mental pain or suffering upon one or more persons.: The officers of Nigerian police tortured the victims up to the point of violently and unlawfully taking their lives.
1. The perpetrator inflicted severe physical or mental pain or suffering upon one or more persons.: The officers of Nigerian police tortured the victims up to the point of violently and unlawfully taking their lives.
2. Such person or persons were in the custody or
under the control of the perpetrator.: The victims were in the custody and
control of the perpetrators for over two months before they were killed.
3. Such pain or suffering did not arise only from,
and was not inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions.: The victims were
detained without any court order and were executed extra-judicially.
4. The conduct was committed as part of a widespread
or systematic attack directed against a civilian population.: For years, the
perpetrators targeted the members of MASSOB who are all civilians and unarmed.
5. The perpetrator knew that the conduct was part of
or intended the conduct to be part of a widespread or systematic attack
directed against a civilian population.: The perpetrators acted under the a
program of persecution and repression directed at the elimination and
suppression of the members of MASSOB, who were civilians and unarmed.
Crime Number V Article 7 (1) (h) Crime against humanity of
persecution
1. The perpetrator severely deprived, contrary to international law, one or more persons of fundamental rights.: The perpetrators deprived the victims their right to dignity, right to life, right to liberty, right to fair hearing, right to the presumption of innocence, right to privacy and family life, freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of speech; these being all rights and freedoms recognized both by the Constitution of Nigeria and under international human right conventions of which Nigeria is a signatory.
1. The perpetrator severely deprived, contrary to international law, one or more persons of fundamental rights.: The perpetrators deprived the victims their right to dignity, right to life, right to liberty, right to fair hearing, right to the presumption of innocence, right to privacy and family life, freedom of expression, freedom of association, freedom of speech; these being all rights and freedoms recognized both by the Constitution of Nigeria and under international human right conventions of which Nigeria is a signatory.
2. The perpetrator targeted such person or persons by
reason of the identity of a group or collectivity or targeted the group or
collectivity as such.: The perpetrators targeted the victims by reason of the
fact that they were members of MASSOB.
3. Such targeting was based on political, racial,
national, ethnic, cultural, religious, gender as defined in article 7,
paragraph 3, of the Statute, or other grounds that are universally recognized
as impermissible under international law.: The reason the members of MASSOB
were targeted was because they were agitating for the revival of the dream for
a separate country to be known as Biafra, similar quest as the world has seen
with Quebec, Canada in recent times. The message of the group also underscored
the ethnicity of the members of the group and which has been one of the bases
for persecuting their members.
4. The conduct was committed in connection with any act
referred to in article 7, paragraph 1, of the Statute or any crime within the
jurisdiction of the Court.: The conduct was committed in connection with (i)
Murder; (ii) Extermination; (iii) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of
physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law; (iv)
Torture;
(v) Persecution against
any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic,
cultural, religious, gender as defined in paragraph, or other grounds that are
universally recognized as impermissible under international law, in connection
with any act referred to in this paragraph or any crime within the jurisdiction
of the Court; (vi) Enforced disappearance of persons;
(vii) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally
causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical
health.
5. The conduct was committed as part of a widespread
or systematic attack directed against a civilian population.: The conduct was
part of a systemic program of persecution against the members of MASSOB.
6. The perpetrator knew that the conduct was part of
or intended the conduct to be part of a widespread or systematic attack
directed against a civilian population.: The perpetrators understood their
action to be part of a wider program to target and eliminate the members of
MASSOB and to suppress any residual agitation for a separate state of Biafra
among the Igbos of Nigeria.
Crime Number VI
Article 7 (1) (i) Crime against humanity of enforced disappearance of persons
1. The perpetrator:
(a) Arrested, detained or abducted one or more persons; or
(b) Refused to acknowledge the arrest, detention or abduction, or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of such person or persons.: The facts of this case as set forth in this complaint and shall be further confirmed by an investigation by the Prosecutor shall confirm that the legal standards of criminal responsibility under this heading have been met.
Article 7 (1) (i) Crime against humanity of enforced disappearance of persons
1. The perpetrator:
(a) Arrested, detained or abducted one or more persons; or
(b) Refused to acknowledge the arrest, detention or abduction, or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of such person or persons.: The facts of this case as set forth in this complaint and shall be further confirmed by an investigation by the Prosecutor shall confirm that the legal standards of criminal responsibility under this heading have been met.
2. (a) Such arrest,
detention or abduction was followed or accompanied by a refusal to acknowledge
that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts
of such person or persons; or
(b) Such refusal was preceded or accompanied by that deprivation of freedom. : The facts of this case bears out the requisite standard of criminal responsibility set forth herein,
(b) Such refusal was preceded or accompanied by that deprivation of freedom. : The facts of this case bears out the requisite standard of criminal responsibility set forth herein,
3. The perpetrator
was aware that:
(a) Such arrest, detention or abduction would be followed in the ordinary course of events by a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of such person or persons; or
(b) Such refusal was preceded or accompanied by that deprivation of freedom.: The facts alleged in this complaint and to be ascertained upon the Prosecutors’ investigation meet the requirements of the Statute under this subheading.
(a) Such arrest, detention or abduction would be followed in the ordinary course of events by a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of such person or persons; or
(b) Such refusal was preceded or accompanied by that deprivation of freedom.: The facts alleged in this complaint and to be ascertained upon the Prosecutors’ investigation meet the requirements of the Statute under this subheading.
4. Such arrest, detention or abduction was carried
out by, or with the authorization, support or acquiescence of, a State or a
political organization.: The arrests, detentions or abductions were carried out
by the Nigerian police jointly with the officers of the SSS under the command
and control of their top commanders as part of an ongoing effort to eliminate
the MASSOB members.
5. Such refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of
freedom or to give information on the fate or whereabouts of such person or
persons was carried out by, or with the authorization or support of, such State
or political organization.: The refusal and denial and cover-up of the crime
were done with the fullest authority of the Nigerian Government and commanders
of the security forces.
6. The perpetrator intended to remove such person or
persons from the protection of the law for a prolonged period of time.: The
perpetrators deliberately failed or refused to take he victims to the court where
they would have been arraigned and granted bail by the court and the purpose
was to be able to disappear them without trace.
7. The conduct was committed as part of a widespread
or systematic attack directed against a civilian population.: The executions
were part of the ongoing persecution and suppression of the members of MASSOB.
8. The perpetrator knew that the conduct was part of
or intended the conduct to be part of a widespread or systematic attack
directed against a civilian population.: The perpetrators understood that their
actions were part of the broader persecution and suppression of any quest for
the revival of the separate state of Biafra by the Igbos of Nigeria.
Crime Number VII Article 7 (1) (k) Crime against humanity of
other inhumane acts
1. The perpetrator inflicted great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health, by means of an inhumane act.: The facts of this case as stated herein and as shall be confirmed by the an investigation by the Prosecutor meet the requirement of the Statute as stated under this sub-section.
1. The perpetrator inflicted great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health, by means of an inhumane act.: The facts of this case as stated herein and as shall be confirmed by the an investigation by the Prosecutor meet the requirement of the Statute as stated under this sub-section.
2. Such act was of a character similar to any other
act referred to in article 7, paragraph 1, of the Statute.: The facts of this
case as stated herein and as shall be confirmed by the an investigation by the
Prosecutor meet the requirement of the Statute as stated under this
sub-section.
3. The perpetrator was aware of the factual
circumstances that established the character of the act.: The facts of this
case as stated herein and as shall be confirmed by an investigation by the
Prosecutor meet the requirement of the Statute as stated under this section.
4. The conduct was committed as part of a widespread
or systematic attack directed against a civilian population.: The facts of this
case as stated herein and as shall be confirmed by the an investigation by the
Prosecutor meet the requirement of the Statute as stated under this section.
5. The perpetrator knew that the conduct was part of
or intended the conduct to be part of a widespread or systematic attack
directed against a civilian population.: The facts of this case as stated
herein and as shall be confirmed by the an investigation by the Prosecutor meet
the requirement of the Statute as stated under this section.
Jurisdictional Statement:
26. The International Criminal Court shall have jurisdiction over the subject matter and the persons and officers listed above and others to be ascertained upon investigation. The said individuals bear individual criminal responsibility in the crimes against the afore described members of the MASSOB, including, but not limited to: Basil Ogbu, Michael Ogwa, Sunday Omogo, Philip Nwankpa, Eze Ndubisi, Ebuka Eze, Obinna Ofor, Joseph Udoh and Uchechukwu Ejiofor; all of whom were executed extra-judicially and their bodies dumped in the river by the named responsible individuals.
26. The International Criminal Court shall have jurisdiction over the subject matter and the persons and officers listed above and others to be ascertained upon investigation. The said individuals bear individual criminal responsibility in the crimes against the afore described members of the MASSOB, including, but not limited to: Basil Ogbu, Michael Ogwa, Sunday Omogo, Philip Nwankpa, Eze Ndubisi, Ebuka Eze, Obinna Ofor, Joseph Udoh and Uchechukwu Ejiofor; all of whom were executed extra-judicially and their bodies dumped in the river by the named responsible individuals.
27. These perpetrators are criminally responsible
for these crimes because they committed the crimes within the jurisdiction of
the Court sand shall be individually responsible and liable for punishment in
accordance with this Statute.
28. The said perpetrators shall be criminally
responsible and liable for punishment for these crimes because they:
(a) Committed the crimes, whether as an individual, jointly
with another or through another person;
(b) Ordered, solicited or induced the commission of these
crimes which in fact occurred or was attempted;
(c) For the purpose of facilitating the commission of the
crimes, aided, abetted or otherwise assisted in its commission or its attempted
commission, including providing the means for its commission;
or
(d) In any other way, contributed to the commission or
attempted commission of such a crime by a group of persons acting with a common
purpose, with the intent and aim or knowledge of furthering the criminal
activity or criminal purpose of the group.
Criminal Responsibility of
commanders and other superior officers of the Police and the State Security
Service:
29. To the extent that the individuals listed as perpetrators of these heinous crimes against humanity were to dispute that they actually and personally carried out the acts that constitute the crime, they are nonetheless criminally responsible for the crimes on the ground that they were persons effectively acting as commanders and shall be criminally responsible for crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court committed by forces under their effective command and control, or effective authority and control as the case may be, as a result of their failure to exercise control properly over such forces.
29. To the extent that the individuals listed as perpetrators of these heinous crimes against humanity were to dispute that they actually and personally carried out the acts that constitute the crime, they are nonetheless criminally responsible for the crimes on the ground that they were persons effectively acting as commanders and shall be criminally responsible for crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court committed by forces under their effective command and control, or effective authority and control as the case may be, as a result of their failure to exercise control properly over such forces.
30. The facts of this case as adduced in this
complaint and as shall be confirmed upon investigation shall reveal that the
commanders or persons either knew or, owing to the circumstances at the time,
should have known that the forces were committing or about to commit these
crimes; and they failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within their
power to prevent or repress their commission or to submit the matter to the
competent authorities for investigation and prosecution.
31. The facts
shall further show that: (a) The commanders failed to exercise control properly
over their subordinates under their effective authority and control, despite
knowing of, or consciously disregarded, information which clearly indicated,
that their subordinates were committing or about to commit these crimes; (b)
The crimes concerned activities that were within the effective responsibility
and control of the superior; and
(c) The
superior failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his power
to prevent or repress their commission or to submit the matter to the competent
authorities for investigation and prosecution.
Preliminary Evidence in support of this Complaint:
32. The Complainant has attached internet links to newspaper and media article describing the circumstances under which the bodies of the victims were discovered floating in the river, and showing the pictures of the victims’ bodies.
Preliminary Evidence in support of this Complaint:
32. The Complainant has attached internet links to newspaper and media article describing the circumstances under which the bodies of the victims were discovered floating in the river, and showing the pictures of the victims’ bodies.
33. Also attached is you tube file showing the scene and
the statements of officers of the Nigerian police regarding these discovery of
the bodies of the victims.
34. Any investigation by the Prosecutor pursuant to Article
15 of the Statute will yield additional confirmatory evidence that crimes
against humanity have been committed deserving of prosecution under this
Statute.
Should the Office of the Prosecutor require, the undersigned
Complainant shall be available to assist in any investigation made pursuant to
this Complaint.
Submitted this February 12, 2013:
/ss/_________________________________
Ephraim Emeka Ugwuonye, Esquire
ECULAW GROUP
310 Watkins Pond Blvd
Rockville, MD 20850
United States
Tel: +1-202-509-7597
Fax: +1-202-318-5956
Emekaugwuonye@aol.com
Attorney for the victims whose bodies floated on Ezu River, Anambra State, Nigeria
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