By Catholic News Agency The report, published July 8 by Competere, a trade law and economic policy consultancy, highlighted the pe...
By Catholic News Agency
Shanker Singham, CEO of Competere, told CNA: "Foreign
Secretary Dominic Raab has announced that the U.K. will no longer be a safe
haven for those who engage in gross human rights violations. This is to be
welcomed."
"The U.K. now has the tools to deal with human rights
violations such as those being perpetrated in Nigeria against Christians in the
Middle Belt. It is crucial that the full force of U.K. sanctions is brought
against Nigerian officials who are guilty of collusion in these heinous
acts."
On Monday, the U.K. announced its first sanctions under a
new initiative seeking to punish human rights abuses around the world. The
government imposed sanctions on 49 individuals and organizations connected to
"notorious human rights violations." The sanctions are the first
issued by the U.K. independently, rather than through the United Nations and
European Union.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office said July 6: "From
today, the ground-breaking global regime means the U.K. has new powers to stop
those involved in serious human rights abuses and violations from entering the
country, channeling money through UK banks, or profiting from our
economy."
The Competere report, "Integrating Foreign Policy,
Development Policy and Human Rights Objectives: Christian Persecution in
Nigeria," chronicles recent attacks on Christians in Nigeria's Middle Belt
states of Taraba, Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarawa, and Adamawa.
It notes that Christians in the Middle Belt, many of whom
are farmers, have faced attacks from three groups: Boko Haram, the Islamic
State in the West African Province, and Muslim Fulani herders.
It cites a report published last month by the U.K. All- Party
Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief, which
questioned whether the violence amounted to genocide.
It says that the response of the government of President
Muhammadu Buhari has been to "deny, ignore, and deflect."
"The willful blindness of the administration is seen by
many in Nigeria and internationally as complicity with, and enabling of, the
killings," it asserts.
The report comes days after the president of the European
bishops' commission promised persecuted Christians in Nigeria that he would
advocate for increased support from the European Union.
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, who leads the Commission of
the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), wrote a letter to the
Nigerian bishops stating that the commission will seek EU assistance and
cooperation with the Nigerian authorities to combat persecution.
The Competere report notes that the U.K. sends $2.5 billion
in aid per year to Nigeria, the equivalent of approximately S$1 million a day.
"It is crucial that this be conditional on appropriate
responses from the Nigerian government," it says.
The report challenges the government to apply to Nigerian
officials the U.K.'s version of the U.S. Magnitsky Act, which allows it to
freeze assets, impose travel bans and apply other sanctions to human rights
offenders.
It says: "The U.K.'s enhancement of its criminal law to
allow promoters of persecution to have their assets frozen and to stop them
from enjoying the hospitality of the donor countries themselves is a welcome
development."
"Now the U.K. must prove that in the protection of
human rights, it has the moral high ground."
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