THE GUARDIAN
The bloody legacy of past and present administrations has, over the years, presented the country as a killing field where no premium is placed on human life. The fact that little is done to remedy rights abuses and violations is simply troubling and soils the country’s image internationally. While state actors at different levels are playing possum, religious bigots and sundry characters have continued to maim and kill hapless citizens for sports. As the world marked the 75th anniversary of Human Rights Anniversary on Sunday, December 10, ENO-ABASI SUNDAY writes that constant happenings in the country gives a semblance of Thomas Hobbes’ state of nature where all sorts thrive, and where life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.
Across the country, a significant number of human rights abuses happen daily, and they range from extrajudicial killings to impunity by law enforcement agencies, torture by state/non-state actors, imprisonments without trials, and life-threatening prison conditions.
Also, on the log are arbitrary arrest/detention; forced disappearances; kidnapping of people for ransom; meting cruel and inhuman treatment to hapless citizens by authority-crazed law enforcement operatives, as well as, blasphemy-related prosecutions and killings among others.
It was these and other such abuses that prompted the General Assembly of the United Nations, in Paris, France to adopt the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), a set of indivisible, inalienable and universal rights, which among other things, highlight the equal dignity and worth of everyone.
Upon the adoption, expectations were high that the mistreatment of persons based on their background, creed, religion, and origin, among others, would be done away with.
Indeed, by its resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948, the General Assembly adopted the UDHR with eight nations abstaining from the vote but none dissenting.
Broadly defined, human rights abuse is anything that harms someone’s human rights, and these include harm to people, communities, and the environment.
Seventy-five years since the UDHR came into being, many Nigerians have continued to suffer all shades of deprivations, including the abridgment of their rights.
