While in the US,
president
Buhari criticized the Leahy Law - a U.S. human rights law that
prohibits the U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense from
providing military assistance to foreign military units that violate
human rights.
Reacting, the sponsor of the Law, US Senator Patrick Leahy
(the law is named after him) said Buhari is misguided in his criticism
as the law, which has so far stopped the US govt from assisting Nigeria
in the war against Boko Haram, can't be blamed for the atrocities
committed by the 'murderers and rapists in the Nigerian military'.
“It is well-documented by the State Department and by respected human rights organisations that Nigerian army
personnel have, for many years, engaged in a pattern and practice of
gross violations of human rights against the Nigerian people and others,
including summary executions of prisoners, indiscriminate attacks
against civilians, torture, forced disappearances and rape.
Rarely
have the perpetrators been prosecuted or punished. This abusive conduct
not only violates the laws of war, it creates fear and loathing among
the Nigerian people whose support is necessary to defeat a terrorist
group like Boko HaramPresident Buhari ignores the undisputed fact that
most Nigerian army units have been approved, under the Leahy Law, for
U.S. training and equipment.
Only those particular units against which there is credible evidence of
the most heinous crimes are ineligible for U.S. aid. And even those
units can again become eligible if the Nigerian Government takes
effective steps to bring the responsible individuals to justice.
I strongly agree with President Buhari about the need to defeat Boko
Haram, and I have supported tens of millions of dollars in U.S. aid to
Nigeria for that purpose. But rather than suggest that the United States
is at fault for not funding murderers and rapists in the Nigerian
military, he should face up to his own responsibility to effectively
counter Boko Haram. He should direct his attention to the Nigerian
military, and the Nigerian courts, and clean up the units implicated in such atrocities.” He said
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