LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Human rights organizations in Nigeria and across the globe have called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently intervene and stop the planned forced deportation of Egyptian citizen, Ali Mahmoud Abdel-Wanis, who is currently detained in Nigeria.
In an appeal addressed to the President and made public on Wednesday, the Human Rights Monitoring Agenda (HURMA Global Resource Initiative), alongside several international human rights groups, warned that Abdel-Wanis faces a high risk of torture and other inhumane treatment if deported to Egypt.
According to the statement signed by Executive Director of HURMA, Comrade Buna Olaitan Isiak, the organizations urged the Nigerian government to respect the Convention Against Torture, which it ratified in 2001, and immediately halt the deportation order.
“We hereby call upon the Nigerian government to stop the forced deportation order and to respect the Convention Against Torture,” the statement read.
It stressed that returning Abdel-Wanis to Egypt could expose him to persecution under what they described as a “military despot presently in charge in the Arab Republic of Egypt.
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“The groups supporting the appeal include EFDI International (Belgium), Victims of Torture (Geneva), Justice for Human Rights (Turkey), Human Rights Monitor (London), Solidarity for Human Rights (Geneva), Alkarama for Human Rights (Geneva), International Lawyers Organization, SAM Organization for Rights and Liberties (Geneva), and Nigeria’s United Action for Democracy (UAD), among others.
In a separate press release, the Justice for Human Rights Foundation (JHR Istanbul) and AFD Belgium disclosed that they have written to key international bodies, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Committee Against Torture, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, urging them to take urgent action.
“We stress the need for Ali Abdel-Wanis’s release and demand that he not be deported to Egypt.“He risks imprisonment and torture if returned to his home country,” the statement said.
The coalition of rights groups is calling for Abdel-Wanis’s immediate release from detention and for the Nigerian authorities to prioritize international human rights obligations in handling the case.