Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, the Amnesty Board Chairman, said this at its media parley on Thursday in Lagos.
Rafsanjani said that the partnership was necessary, because it desired to acquaint journalists and media practitioners with the human rights situation in Nigeria, so they could have a good grasp of the situation on ground.
He said: “We note that there are some human rights abuses that have happened in recent times in Nigeria that got poor reportage.
“This gives rise to the need for Amnesty International to synergise with journalists and media practitioners, so as to continue to advance the noble goals of human rights and justice in Nigeria.
“The purpose of this synergy will be to provide journalists and media practitioners with a unique opportunity to engage directly with our representatives.
“Through this Forum, we will provide answers to your questions and concerns, so that the media can gain insight into our human rights agenda and strategy”.
The Board Chairman said that the partnership would involve forming a formidable network of journalists and media practitioners covering human rights across Nigeria.
He stressed that through the partnership, it would equip journalists and media practitioners with the necessary tools for human rights documentation and reporting.
Rafsanjani added that the partnership would assist it in building a network of media personnel to propagate Amnesty International’s work in Nigeria and globally.
He said that another aim of the Forum was to underscore the need for journalists and media practitioners to heighten the call for military and security agencies’ accountability.
He added that it was also to ensure that accountability was included in the military framework in Nigeria.
Rafsanjani said. “Suffice it to note that the impact of the various human rights panels set up in the country is yet to be felt.
“For example, the reports of the army-led Special Board of Inquiry and the Presidential Investigative Panel set up in 2017 to review compliance by the armed forces with human rights is yet to be made public.
“The Judicial Panels of Inquiry set up by 29 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory, in line with the directive of the National Economic Council (NEC), in the wake of the #EndSARS protests in 2020, are yet to be implemented.
“Only Lagos State made its report public.
“We call on the media to follow up in ensuring that the report of these panels are made public, and their recommendations implemented”.
He said that in the coming days, it would be unveiling its Human Rights Agenda 2023 in which it analysed the existing human rights framework in Nigeria and identified gaps.
Also speaking at the parley, Omoyele Sowore, a Human Rights Activist and Pro-democracy campaigner, said he was excited that Amnesty International was reaching out in ways it hadn’t done for a while.
He said that the human rights body should ensure more media coverage of its engagement.
According to Sowore, there is a general global recession for human rights across board and “the biggest country that is supposed to be promoting human rights, the United States, have also been withdrawing steadily from protecting people’s rights”.
He stressed that the media should not only be covering politicians but also human rights, adding that politicians are likely to violate human rights the most.
A veteran Journalist and Activist, Richard Akinola, urged media organisations to create room for human rights reportage.
Akinola noted that right from the time of military juntas, the media had always been at the receiving end of human rights abuses, so this made it imperative for it to show extra interest in the reportage of human rights issues.
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Akintola said: “There is need to do more in creating awareness of human rights issues in this democratic dispensation but before this can be done, there is need for right professional orientation and training.
“Journalists need to be acquainted with the Provision of Chapter Four of the constitution which deals with fundamental human rights.
“Also, since we are now in the age of social media, unlike when I started this job, things have been made easier through video recordings of certain infractions.
“Fortunately, there are a couple of WhatsApp platforms created for the purpose of capturing human rights infractions and more can still be created. Through these platforms, a number of cases have been resolved or escalated”.
On his part, Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), commended Amnesty International and all other human rights groups for their advocacy.
Falana said that Nigeria had one of the best human rights law regimes on paper, adding that some of these laws could not be found in the U.S. or Britain.
The senior Lawyer stressed: “Today, Nigeria has one of the best human rights laws regime on paper, laws you can’t find in America or Britain. Already mentioned is the African Charter on Human Rights, socio-econmomic rights, the Police Establishment Act 2020, we have the law against the rejection of patients by hospitals, and so many others.
“However, the question is, “with all these laws, where are we? What should we do next? How do we enforce this laws to ensure that the rights of our people are upheld?”
“This are questions which I would urge Amnesty International to make the subject of our next meeting,’’ he said. NAN