[JURIST] A report [text, PDF] released on Sunday by the Kaduna State Government [official website] stated, among other things, that “[t]he force used by the Nigerian Army resulting in the death of the 349 IMN members was disproportionate” and called for those involved to be “brought to trial before a [c]ourt of competent [j]urisdiction.” The report details the clashes between the Nigerian Army and Islamic Movement in Nigeria in December 2015 and highlights how many of those killed were placed in mass graves. The report also recommended that the army “intensify efforts in ensuring compliance with the Rules of Engagement and other legal standards in Cordon and Search operations at all times.”

Earlier this year Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] condemned [JURIST report] the reinstatement of Nigeria’s senior military general, Major General Ahmadu Mohammed, who was alleged to have actively participated in the mass murder of hundreds of detainees at the Giwa barracks detention center in March 2014. AI had previously named the major general along with eight other senior military commanders in June as potentially criminally responsible for their role in war crimes including the deaths of approximately 8,000 other detainees. AI’s investigation indicated [AI report] that more than 7,000 people, including young boys, were starved, suffocated and tortured to death in military detention camps since March 2011, while another 1,200 were rounded up and unlawfully executed. AI had then stated that the military’s actions at the detention camps are part of a “witch hunt” in an effort to locate and fight members of Boko Haram, who threaten the security of the nation. Boko Haram [JURIST news archive], which means “Western education is a sin,” has been fighting to overthrow the Nigerian government in the interest of creating an Islamist state.