Eighty-one
people accused of fighting for Boko Haram went on trial in Niger
yesterday in a public court sitting, one of the first of its kind after
closed-door trials of suspected insurgents were criticized by human
rights groups.
Those on trial in a special international
court in the capital Niamey came from Niger, Nigeria and Chad and are
suspected of playing a role in Boko Haram’s near decade-long bid to
create a caliphate in Nigeria.
The Islamist insurgency has spread beyond
its roots in Nigeria, killing 20,000 and uprooting nearly 3 million in
the Lake Chad region. The Niamey trials follow closed-door Boko Haram
trials, including in Nigeria where a court in October jailed 45 people
to between three and 31 years in jail, but the government did not say
what they were convicted of.
Open trials are meant to show that
suspected fighters will be given due process, and could also help
alleviate a conflict that has been stoked at times by the mistreatment
of captives. The death in 2009 of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf in
police custody is seen as one of the major triggers for the conflict.
The Niamey court will hear 22 separate
cases over the next 10 days, following the trial of nearly 300 people on
similar charges last year. In all, nearly 1,000 people are expected to
come before the court.
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