The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has said that “The order banning 50 alleged high-profile corrupt Nigerians from travelling abroad without any legal basis and a judicial authorization is clearly arbitrary, repressive and illegal, as it breaches constitutional rights and the country’s international obligations, which protect the rights to freedom of movement, to leave one’s country, to privacy, and to due process of law.”
The company stated: “A travel ban by way of its nature is an interference with the right to leave one’s country.
It is neither vital nor proportionate to save you dissipation of stolen assets or prevent politically uncovered persons (PEPs) from tampering with this type of assets. The ban has to be immediately lifted and the order rescinded.”
Presidential spokesperson Garba Shehu on Saturday announced the placement of fifty excessive-profile Nigerians on tour ban, bringing up the measure as part of the implementation of Presidential government Order number 6.
But SERAP in a statement on Sunday signed by using its deputy director, Timothy Adewale, said: “in preference to performing its declared objective of stopping dissipation of stolen assets,
the journey ban might seriously undermine the authorities' expressed commitment to fight grand corruption and violate the united states of America's worldwide human rights responsibilities.
“The journey ban will play properly into the palms of excessive-profile corrupt officers by feeding into the narrative that the combat in opposition to corruption is centered most effective at political warring parties.”
The announcement read in part: “The tour ban and mass surveillance will distract the government from taking the valid movement to get better-stolen assets,
efficaciously punish high-rating corrupt officers and portray the government as unwilling to embody the guideline of regulation in its combat against corruption,
thereby making it hard to achieve the necessary support and cooperation of nations retaining the stolen property.”
“The journey ban will even stress the government’s relationships with companion nations, on whom it'll unavoidably rely for crucial asset healing cooperation, undermining the effort to convey them closer.
“by using alienating these companions, the government may want to lose get entry to important facts and mutual prison assistance necessary to correctly recover stolen belongings and convey corrupt officers to justice.
“Judicial confirmation of the legality of the government Order 6 doesn’t provide the authorities arbitrary powers to impose a travel ban on each person without following the due method of law.
“in place of enforcing a tour ban, the authorities should take gain of the provisions of the UN Convention against Corruption to seek mutual legal assistance with countries where investigations and litigation are ongoing by using requesting them to use preventive measures regarding assets covered via the tour ban.”
“The authorities have to additionally broadly put up the names of the 50 Nigerians suspected to be worried, and post the ones names to the nations/embassies of nations wherein the stolen assets are stashed.
“The government must trouble a risk alert on alleged corrupt property which are in all likelihood to be dissipated or tampered with via the high-profile Nigerians, seeking the cooperation of nations maintaining the assets,
and reminding them in their worldwide obligations to prevent those Nigerians from tampering with stolen assets that are issue of ongoing investigations and litigation.”
“we're worried about the threats grand corruption and money laundering posed to the effective leisure of human rights of Nigerians, and trust the authorities that grand corruption and impunity of perpetrators must be vigorously combated.
“however we agree with that the combat towards corruption will only be triumphant if it is based totally on due process of law and recognize for human rights.”
“If the goal the government seeks to reap is to make sure stolen property isn't dissipated or that politically exposed humans do no longer intrude with ongoing research and prosecution of corruption instances,
the ideal felony response is for the authorities to pursue orders of transient forfeiture and mutual legal help, and now not a tour ban that might acquire nothing however violate residents’ human rights.”
“Nigeria is a state birthday party to the global Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which in article 12 ensures the right of each person to depart any USA, consisting of their personal.
“The authorities can not impose regulations on this proper except this kind of regulations are supplied through law, are necessary to shield public order, or the rights of others.
The journey regulations on the alleged 50 corrupt Nigerians surely do no longer meet these situations.”
“All restrictions at the proper to depart must be narrowly interpreted. In popular remark No. 27, the Human Rights Committee stated that any regulations need to now not
impair the essence of the proper and that the connection of the norm to the exception must now not be reversed.”
“The tour ban can not reap the objective of depriving the 50 Nigerians suspected of corruption in their sick-gotten profits.
It's miles really vital that the authorities are guided with the aid of the provisions of Article 31 of the UN convention in opposition to Corruption to which Nigeria is a country party,
and which authorises states events to take initial measures to capture, freeze or otherwise immobilise property for the functions of confiscation/pending research and litigation.”
“it is usually vital that the definition and interpretation of the law should be as sure as viable,
and this is of specific importance in instances of corruption in which residents’ human rights may be at stake.
We do now not don't forget that such reasonable fact can exist wherein the govt assumes patently judicial features.”
“The right to go away one’s use of a includes a high-quality obligation on states consisting of Nigeria to trouble files – in addition to a passive one – to chorus from placing boundaries inside the way of a character looking for to depart.”
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