A judge for Spain’s National Court on Thursday opened a probe into Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram for terrorism and crimes against humanity over a 2013 attack on a Nigerian town in which a Spanish nun was assaulted. Spain’s universal jurisdiction laws allow crimes against humanity to be prosecuted across borders as long as there is a connection to Spain. A militant attack on the eastern Nigerian town of Ganye on March 22, 2013, in which 25 people were killed, gave rise to the Boko Haram case. Court papers said [El País report, in Spanish] that Maria Jesus Mayor, a nun from Ganye, was assaulted by militants before she was able to escape into hiding and was later rescued by Nigerian security services. The judge has requested a study of Boko Haram from Interpol and will question Mayor about the incident.

Boko Haram [JURIST news archive; BBC profile], which means “Western education is a sin,” has been fighting to overthrow the Nigerian government in the interest of creating an Islamist state. In April Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] reported that Boko Haram had abducted at least 2,000 women and girls [JURIST report] in Nigeria since the start of 2014 and gave details of the extreme violence and crimes against humanity committed by the group. Also in April the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, reported that Boko Haram militants in Nigeria have been murdering women and girls [JURIST report] previously taken captive by the group. At the end of March, Nigeria held its presidential and gubernatorial elections in spite of violent attacks directed towards voters [JURIST report] by Boko Haram. The elections, originally scheduled for February 14, were postponed [Washington Times report] as Nigeria attempted to eradicate Boko Haram after reports that the group had acquired military-grade weaponry, including armored personnel carriers. In February the UN reported that girls have been attacked [JURIST report] and been subjected to gender oppression in at least 70 countries for seeking an education. In January the UN Security Council condemned attacks by Boko Haram in Nigeria [JURIST report] and called for an end to terrorist attacks and the release of abducted child soldiers. The hostilities included mass killings, destruction of civilian homes and suicide bombings where children where induced to carry out the attacks.