The Socio-Economic Rights and
Accountability Project (SERAP) has said that corrupt public officials will take
advantage of the order banning 50 alleged high-profile corrupt Nigerians from
travelling abroad without any legal basis and a judicial authorisation.
This, the organisation said, will
be done by using the order as a basis to feed into the narrative that the fight
against corruption is targeted only at political opponents.
Recall that Presidential
spokesperson Garba Shehu yesterday announced the placement of 50 high-profile
Nigerians on travel ban, citing the measure as part of the implementation of
Presidential Executive Order Number 6.
However, SERAP’s deputy director,
Timothy Adewale, in a statement on Sunday described the
presidential order as clearly arbitrary, repressive and illegal.
He said it breaches
constitutional rights and the country’s international obligations, which protect
the rights to freedom of movement, to leave one’s country, to privacy, and to
due process of law.
Adewale said: “A travel ban by
its nature is an interference with the right to leave one’s country. It is
neither necessary nor proportionate to prevent dissipation of stolen assets or
stop politically exposed persons (PEPs) from tampering with any such assets.
The ban should be immediately lifted and the order rescinded.
“Rather than performing its
declared objective of preventing dissipation of stolen assets, the travel ban
would seriously undermine the government’s expressed commitment to combat grand
corruption and violate the country’s international human rights obligations.
“The travel ban will play right
into the hands of high-profile corrupt officials by feeding into the narrative
that the fight against corruption is targeted only at political opponents.
“The travel ban and mass
surveillance will distract the authorities from taking legitimate action to
recover stolen assets, effectively punish high-ranking corrupt officials and
portray the government as unwilling to embrace the rule of law in its fight
against corruption, thereby making it difficult to obtain the necessary support
and cooperation of countries keeping stolen assets.
“The travel ban will also strain
the government’s relationships with partner countries, on whom it will
inevitably rely for vital asset recovery cooperation, undermining the effort to
bring them closer.
“By alienating these partners,
the government could lose access to important information and mutual legal
assistance necessary to effectively recover stolen assets and bring corrupt
officials to justice.
“Judicial affirmation of the
legality of the Executive Order 6 doesn’t grant the government arbitrary powers
to impose travel ban on anyone without following due process of law.
“Rather than imposing a travel
ban, the authorities should take advantage of the provisions of the UN
Convention against Corruption to seek mutual legal assistance with countries
where investigations and litigation are ongoing by requesting them to apply
preventive measures regarding assets covered by the travel ban.”
“The authorities should also
widely publish the names of the 50 Nigerians suspected to be involved, and
submit those names to the countries/embassies of countries where the stolen
assets are stashed.
“The authorities should issue a
risk alert on alleged corrupt assets that are likely to be dissipated or
tampered with by the high-profile Nigerians, seeking the cooperation of
countries keeping the assets, and reminding them of their international
obligations to prevent these Nigerians from tampering with stolen assets that
are subject of ongoing investigations and litigation.
“We are concerned with the
threats grand corruption and money laundering posed to the effective enjoyment
of human rights of Nigerians and agree with the authorities that grand
corruption and impunity of perpetrators must be vigorously combated. But we
believe that the fight against corruption will only succeed if it is based on
due process of law and respect for human rights.
“If the objective the government
seeks to achieve is to ensure stolen assets are not dissipated or that
politically exposed persons do not interfere with ongoing investigation and
prosecution of corruption cases, the appropriate legal response is for the
authorities to pursue orders of temporary forfeiture and mutual legal
assistance and not a travel ban that would achieve nothing but violate
citizens’ human rights.
“Nigeria is a state party to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which in article 12
guarantees the right of everyone to leave any country, including their own.
“The government cannot impose restrictions
on this right unless any such restrictions are provided by law, are necessary
to protect public order or the rights of others. The travel restrictions on the
alleged 50 corrupt Nigerians clearly do not meet these conditions.
“All restrictions on the right to
leave must be narrowly interpreted. In General Comment No. 27, the Human Rights
Committee stated that any restrictions must not impair the essence of the right
and that the relationship of the norm to the exception must not be reversed.
“The travel ban cannot achieve
the objective of depriving the 50 Nigerians suspected of corruption of their
ill-gotten gains. It is absolutely important that the government is guided by
the provisions of Article 31 of the UN Convention against Corruption to which
Nigeria is a state party, and which authorises states parties to take
preliminary measures to seize, freeze or otherwise immobilise property for the
purposes of confiscation/pending investigation and litigation.
“It is always important that the
definition and interpretation of the law should be as certain as possible, and
this is of particular importance in cases of corruption where citizens’ human
rights may be at stake.
“We do not consider that such
reasonable certainty can exist where the executive assumes patently judicial
functions.
“The right to leave one’s country
includes a positive duty on states such as Nigeria to issue documents – as well
as a passive one – to refrain from placing obstacles in the way of an
individual seeking to leave.”
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