Amnesty International has condemned the introduction of the Counter Subversion Bill 2024 within the House of Representatives, calling for its instant withdrawal.
The Country Director of AI, Isa Sanusi, disclosed this in an announcement on Wednesday.
The invoice, sponsored by the Speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, has been criticised for its obscure and broad language, which could possibly be used to silence political opponents and punish those that specific dissenting views.
The invoice, prescribes, amongst others, that “anyone found guilty of destroying national symbols, refusing to recite the national anthem and pledge, defacing a place of worship with intent to incite violence, or undermining the Federal Government shall face a fine of N5 million, a 10-year prison sentence, or both.”
“The misplaced and ill-timed Counter Subversion Bill 2024 violates international human rights standards,” Sanusi mentioned.
“It will be open to vague and broad interpretations and can be used to impose incredibly harsh punishments simply for criticizing the Nigerian authorities,” he added.
Sanusi famous that related legal guidelines in different international locations have been used to focus on political opponents and punish peaceable expression of views differing from these of the federal government.
“The law had always – and everywhere turned out to be a tool of repression,” he mentioned.
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The invoice’s unclear wording, broad utility, and lack of specific human rights safeguards make it susceptible to interpretation and abuse by officers.
He emphasised that the invoice promotes a tradition of repression, reasonably than addressing urgent points like corruption, poverty, and insecurity.
“Corruption — which is more and more rampant and retains Nigerians poorer is the ‘subversion’ that the House of Reps. ought to fear about and pay nearer and extra concrete consideration to.
“Giving the government more broad powers to punish the people who hold dissenting opinions will only further undermine human rights,” he mentioned.
Amnesty International urged the House of Representatives to deal with addressing deep poverty, inflation, and insecurity, reasonably than introducing laws that might additional prohibit human rights.
“Legislations must be compliant with domestic and international human rights standards”, Sanusi concluded.