Unconditional Amnesty for Boko Haram Violates African Human Rights Law
Posted: 12 July, 2024 Filed under: Oluwatosin Senami Adegun, Yeabsira Teferi | Tags: African Human Rights Law, Amnesty International Report of 2015, ‘de-radicalisation, Boko Haram, child soldiers, disproportionate attacks, forced marriage, International Humanitarian Law, Nigeria, Politically Motivated Crimes, rape, rehabilitation and reintegration’ programme, sexual slavery, sexual violence, terrorist group, unconditional amnesty, violations of human rights Leave a comment
Author: Oluwatosin Senami Adegun
Master’s student, LLM Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria.
Boko Haram has attacked the north-east of Nigeria for 15 years killing over 350 000 persons, abducted about 276 Chibok girls, perpetuated rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence, forced marriage, recruitment of child soldiers and disproportionate attacks on civilians which constitute violations of human rights and international humanitarian law as affirmed by the Amnesty International Report of 2015.
Despite these gross violations and the victims’ yearning for justice, the Federal Government of Nigeria (Nigeria) granted unconditional amnesty to some members of the terrorist group through its ‘de-radicalisation, rehabilitation and reintegration’ programme without due consideration given to victims whose views and concerns were never considered.
Forced marriage is a major concern for mental health of victims: Why are partners not doing enough? A case of Somalia
Posted: 15 August, 2023 Filed under: Bahja Hassan | Tags: CFM, child marriage, child mothering, economic gain, escaping poverty, forced marriage, fundamental rights of girls, gender equality, Girls Not Brides, health risks, Laws and policies, legal frameworks, mental health, mental healthcare, mental healthcare services, negative implications, ocial-cultural underpinning, political instability, poverty alleviation, right to education, rights to dignity, Somalia Leave a comment
Author: Bahja Hassan
Independent Somali Gender Analyst
Summary
This article points out why initiatives to address child and forced marriages in Somalia are inadequate at providing mental health services to survivors of child marriages. It proposes an urgent rethinking of current interventions and approaches to integrate mental healthcare services so that frontline workers are equipped with necessary skills to provide services to young mothers. It argues that failure to integrate mental healthcare services into programmes aimed at ending child and forced marriage would not provide any meaningful results. This is because child and forced marriage inevitably impact girls’ mental health so much as it violates their rights to dignity, education, and livelihoods.
AfricLaw 