the first will be reports, for which no one can wait. the second will come from investigations, which should form the basis for actions/judgments. we can't wait to try to stop such episodes, but our actions can only be limited while we wait for more conclusive reports. i look to IRIN as an invaluable source of information. it is the UN official site on news; i look to Human Rights Watch, and to Amnesty International, for news bulletins, and eventually for reports that call for action.
so far, i found this report from HRW on Nigeria. it isn't conclusive about Baga, but describes a context in which it seems that Baga is merely another example.
Nigeria
Attacks by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram and abuses by government security forces led to spiraling violence across northern and central Nigeria. This violence, which first erupted in 2009, has claimed more than 3,000 lives. The group, which seeks to impose a strict form of Sharia, or Islamic law, in northern Nigeria and end government corruption, launched hundreds of attacks in 2012 against police officers, Christians, and Muslims who cooperate with the government or oppose the group.
In the name of ending Boko Haram’s threat to Nigeria’s citizens, government security forces have responded with a heavy-hand. In 2012, security agents killed hundreds of suspected members of the group or residents of communities where attacks occurred. Nigerian authorities also arrested hundreds of people during raids across the north. Many of those detained were held incommunicado without charge or trial, in some cases in inhuman conditions. Some were physically abused; others disappeared or died in detention. These abuses in turn helped further fuel the group’s campaign of violence.
read the rest at: http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2013/country-chapters/nigeria
ken
-- kenneth w. harrow faculty excellence advocate distinguished professor of english michigan state university department of english 619 red cedar road room C-614 wells hall east lansing, mi 48824 ph. 517 803 8839 harrow@msu.edu
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