US Secretary of State John Kerry Saturday renewed a plea to Nigerian authorities to ensure the military does not carry out atrocities against civilians in its clampdown on Islamic militants.
Nigeria
declared a state of emergency in three northeastern states on May 14 as it
launched a military offensive to end Boko Haram’s four-year insurgency.
“Boko
Haram is a terrorist organisation and they have killed wantonly and upset the
normal governance of Nigeria in fundamental ways that are unacceptable,” Kerry
told reporters on the sidelines of an African Union summit.
“We
defend the right completely of the government of Nigeria to defend itself and
to fight back against terrorists. That said I have raised the issue of humans
rights with the government,” he stressed.
Activists
as well as the United States have voiced concerns over the fighting, with
Nigeria’s military regularly criticised over its response to the insurgency due
to allegations of major abuses.
“We
all of us try to hold to the highest standards of behaviour,” Kerry said in a
joint press conference with Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus. “One person’s atrocity does not excuse another’s.”
He
insisted the authorities should not seek revenge, saying the best way forward
was “good governance, it’s ridding yourself of the terrorist organisations so
you can establish a standard of law that others can respect.”
A
May 7 attack in northern Bama saw insurgents disguised in military uniforms
break into a prison and attack several government buildings, leaving 55 people
dead. The women and children were around the sites at the moment of the attack
and were taken hostage and only finally released on Friday.
The
conflict is estimated to have cost 3,600 lives since 2009, including killings
by the security services.
Kerry
added that “to their credit the government has acknowledged that there have
been some problems, they’re working to try to control it.”
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