CASE N° NIG/48 - O. J. ADEWUNMI - NIGERIA

Resolution adopted without a vote by the Inter-Parliamentary Council
at its 165th session (Berlin, 16 October 1999)

The Inter-Parliamentary Council,

Referring to the outline of the case of Senator Adewunmi, of Nigeria, as contained in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/165/12(b)­R.1), and to the relevant resolution adopted at its 164th session (April 1999),

Recalling that Senator Adewunmi was arrested in 1995 during the period of the military junta of General Sani Abacha under the Failed Banks (Recovery of Debts) and Financial Malpractices in Banks Decree N° 18 of 1994 and held in detention in Ikoyi Prison; that he was ill when arrested and that his health has reportedly worsened for want of any medical facilities in prison; recalling also that, according to one of the sources, General Abacha's regime held bank directors and managers under this Decree for political reasons, as alleged in Mr. Adewunmi's case,

Considering that, in June 1999, the Nigeria High Commission in Canada informed the President of the Canadian Inter-Parliamentary Group that Mr. Adewunmi's case was already under investigation following a judicial decision and would be concluded shortly, together with other cases joined to it; that, however, no information has reached it as to the release or trial of Mr. Adewunmi,

Bearing in mind that Nigeria is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 9 of which guarantees the right of anyone detained to trial within a reasonable time or to release,

1. Notes that Mr. Adewunmi may have been released and requests the Secretary General to seek confirmation of this, in particular from the Nigerian Parliament, which is once more a member of the IPU;
2. Requests the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to continue examining this matter in the light of the information obtained and to report to it at its next session (April-May 2000).

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