Nigerian military unlawfully detain children at rehabilitation centre for militants - Amnesty

By Paul Carsten
ABUJA, May 27 (Reuters) - The Nigerian military are
unlawfully detaining boys and men at a rehabilitation centre for
alleged members of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram,
Amnesty International said in a report released on Wednesday.
In the latest allegations of rights abuses since Boko Haram
began its insurgency in Nigeria's northeast, Amnesty criticised
Operation Safe Corridor, a programme that receives financial and
technical support from the European Union, Britain, the United
States and the U.N. International Organization for Migration.
Nigeria's military did not immediately respond to requests
for comment. It has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in response
to such accusations during a decade of conflict.
"For almost everyone held (at Safe Corridor) to date, it
amounts to unlawful detention," Amnesty said of the programme
which is based in Gombe state and aims at reintegrating former
militants into their communities.
"Many people there are not former fighters who committed
crimes, much less were charged or convicted of any crime," it
said in a report that also listed alleged rights abuses by Boko
Haram and criticised conditions at other military detention
centres.
Amnesty said Safe Corridor "includes positive elements",
including adult education and psychosocial counselling described
favourably by people formerly held there.
But at least seven men, including two who were boys when in
Boko Haram territory, have died in military custody at Safe
Corridor between July 2017 and July 2019, Amnesty said.
It said the rehabilitation, meant to last six months, can go
on for over three times longer.
Amnesty said conditions at Safe Corridor were "significantly
better than at other military-run detention facilities," where
the report said security forces beat and torture children and
adults they suspect of being Boko Haram members.
The report said Boko Haram continues to abduct children to
become fighters and child brides, and that some are raped.