By Kennedy Awowoh
INTRODUCTION:
Human Rights are the total and sum of individual and collective rights laid down in States Constitutions and International Law. Human Rights pertain all aspect of life, the exercise enable all individuals to shape and determine their own lives in liberty, equality and respect for human dignity.
Human Rights encompasses civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights as well as the collective rights of people. Since the second world war, the United Nations has played a leading role in defining and advancing Human Rights which until then had developed within the nation states.
EXAMPLES OF HUMAN RIGHTS:
Human Rights can be broadly classified into civil and political rights, economic and social cultural rights and the collective rights of a people.
In the area of civil and political rights: right to life, freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment, freedom from slavery, servitude and forced labour, right to liberty and security of
person, right of detained persons to be treated with humanity, freedom of movement, right to a fair trial, prohibition of retroactive criminal laws, right to recognition as a person before the law, right to privacy,
freedom of thought, conscience and religion, Freedom of opinion and expression, Prohibition of
propaganda for war and of incitement to national, racial or religious hatred, freedom of assembly, freedom
of association, right to marry and found a family, right to take part in the conduct of public affairs, vote, be
elected and have access to public office
In the area of economic, social and cultural rights: right to work, right to just and favourable conditions of
work, right to form and join trade unions, right to social security, protection of the family, right to an
adequate standard of living, including adequate food, clothing and housing, right to health, right to
education.
In the area of collective rights of peoples, right to: Self-determination, development, free use of their wealth
and natural resources, peace, A healthy environment.
Other collective rights: Rights of national, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities, rights of indigenous peoples.
Human rights are foreign to no culture and native to all nations; they are universal because they are based
on every human being’s dignity, irrespective of race, colour, sex, ethnic or social origin, religion, language, nationality, age, sexual orientation, disability or any other distinguishing characteristic. Since they are accepted by all States and peoples, they apply equally and indiscriminately to every person and are the same for everyone everywhere.
In Nigeria, the Fundamental Rights of her citizens are provided for in Chapter Four of the Amended 1999
Constitution (“Constitution”)and the domesticated African Charter on Human and People’s Rights
(Ratification and Enforcement) Act, Cap A9, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, (LFN) 2004.
The Fundamental Rights under chapter four, include:
Rights to Life (S. 33);
Dignity of the human Person (S.34);
Personal Liberty(S. 35);
Fair Hearing (S. 36);
Private and Family Life (S 37);
Freedom of thought, conscience and religion (S.38);
Freedom of expression and the press (S.39);
Peaceful assembly and association (S. 40);
Freedom of movement (S. 40);
Freedom from discrimination (S.42);
Acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria (S.43)
Freedom from compulsory acquisition of immovable or immovable property (S. 44) of the Constitution respectively.
The rights as enumerated are fundamental and justiciable in our courts, they stand above the ordinary laws of the land and they have been enshrined in the Constitution so that they could be immutable just as the
Constitution is Immutable. See Chief Mrs. Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti &Ors v AGF (1985) 2 NWLR (Pt.6) 211 at 229230. A pers on is empowered by law to seek redress for the breach or likely breach of his rights within the context of the law. See S. 46(1) of the Constitution.
Also, those rights under the African Charter which includes the right to a general satisfactory environmen favourable to one’s development, seek and obtain asylum in other countries when prosecuted, work under equitable and satisfactory conditions, enjoy the best attainable state of physical and mental health, education and self determination are also enforce t able in our courts by reason of the domestication of the Charter in line with S.12 of the Constitution.
RESTRICTIONS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PUT IN PERSPECTIVE.
As international law currently stands, States are the primary duty– bearers of human rights obligat ions. In principle, however, human rights can be violated by any person or group, and in fact, human rights abuses committed by non State actors (such as business enterprises, organized criminal groups, terrorists, guerrilla and paramilitary forces and int ergovernmental organizations) are on the increase.
International human rights treaties and customary law impose three obligations on States: the duty to respect; the duty to protect; and the duty to fulfil. While the balance between these obligations may vary according to the rights involved, they apply to all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. Moreover, States have a duty to provide a remedy at the domestic level for human rights violations. Our Human Jurisprudence has done well in t hese regards. As a matter of law, in Nigeria, the Supreme Court has held that damages follow the breach of Human Rights and that the Applicant need not lead evidence to establish his claim for damages. See FRN v Ifegwu (2003) 15 NWLR (Pt Some . 842) 113 SC.
Some Human Rights, such as the prohibition of torture and slavery, are absolute. The application of interrogation techniques amounting to torture as defined under Article 1 of the Convention against Torture and other Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT adopted in 1984 and came into force in 1987) for instance, electric shocks and other methods causing severe physical pain or mental suffering nt is not justified on any grounds whatsoever, including to implement counterterrorism measures or to prev ent imminent terrorist attacks.
However, most Human Rights are not absolute and are therefore subject to certain restrictions, including through reservations, derogations and limitations. Further, the principle of progressive realization of rights means t hat the particular circumstances and capacity of each State must be taken into account in assessing whether that State has violated its human rights obligations. As such, while the core content of Human Rights is universal and some obligations have immedia te effect, States enjoy a margin of discretion in implementing their obligations to respect, protect and fulfil Human Rights. The Constitution makes provisions for these restrictions in the interest of defence, public safety, public order, public morality or public health; or for the purpose of protecting the rights and freedom or other persons. (See S 45 (1) (a) and (b) of the Constitution respectively)
Under our Human Rights jurisprudence, the Supreme Court of Nigeria has upheld these provisions on dero gation from Human Rights in a couple of cases. A few of them include: Disciplinary Tribunal v Okonew (2001), 7 NWLR (Pt 71) 206; Queen v Amalgamated Press of Nigeria (1961). 3 All NLR 199; Governor of Nasarawa State (1990) 6 NWLR 708; Dokubo Asari v FRN (2008) 2 SC 450.
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Amaku v that an outbreak of the viral disease COVID19 first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, China had reached the level of a global pandemic. Citing concerns with “the alarming levels of spread and severity,” the WHO called for governments to take urgent and aggressive action to stop the spread of the virus. As at today (April 17th 2020), John Hopkins University reports that ther e are 2,169,022 cases globally with 146,071 deaths.
International human rights law guarantees everyone the right to the highest attainable standard of health and obligates governments to take steps to prevent threats to public health and to provide medical care to emergencies those who need it. Human rights law also recognizes that in the context of serious public health threats and public threatening the life of the nation, restrictions on some rights can be justified when they have a legal basis, are stri ctly necessary, based on scientific evidence and neither arbitrary nor discriminatory in application, of limited duration, respectful of human dignity, subject to review, and proportionate to achieve the objective. The scale and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic clearly rises to the level of a public health threat that could justify restrictions on certain rights, such as those that result from the imposition of quarantine or isolation limiting freedom of movement. In Nigeria, in exercise of the powers co nferred on him under S. 2, 3 and 4 of the Quarantine Act and all other powers enabling him in that behalf, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria declared Covid19 a dangerous disease and made regulations to curtail its spread. The regulations, restricted free movement in Lagos, Ogun and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days.
CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATIONS
Having established that the restrictions of Human Rights in Nigeria in the wake of the break of t his global pandemic, is reasonably justifiable, it is now pertinent to state therefore that the remedy(s) for Covid shouldn’t be worse than the pandemic itself.
Already, while the death toll for Covid-19 in Nigeria as at today the 17th of April 2020 remains 17, with appreciable number of recoveries, the activities of the security officially documented complaints agencies combined have claimed 18 Nigerian lives in extrajudicial killings across the federation with over 1 against law enforcement agents ac Rights Commission Report.
According to a National Human Governments should fully respect the rights to freedom of expression and access to information, and only restrict them as international standards permit.
Governments should ensure that the informatio n they provide to the public regarding COVID19 is accurate, timely, and consistent with human rights principles. This is important for addressing false and misleading information.
All information about COVID19 should be accessible and available in multi ple languages, including for those with low or no literacy. This should include qualified sign language interpretation for televised announcements, as Taiwan has done and the NCDC is currently doing in their daily briefings; websites that are accessible to people with vision, hearing, learning, and other disabilities; and telephonebased services that have text capabilities for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Communications should utilize plain language to maximize understanding. Age appropriate inf ormation should be provided to children to help them take steps to protect themselves.
Health data is particularly sensitive, and the publication of information online can pose a significant risk to affected persons and in particular people who are alread y in positions of vulnerability or marginalization insociety.
Rights-based legal safeguards should govern the appropriate use and handling of personal health data. Finally, the authorities should begin the prosecution of Security Agents who flout basic government instructions or overreach on, and continue to abuse the rights of citizens in various ways including but not limited to extortion, inhuman treatment and extrajudicial killings.
About Kennedy Awowoh:
He is the Founder of The Great Leap Forward; an Associate at McCarthy Mbadugha & Co. (Pacific Chambers); he is also a Human Rights Lawyer and Civil Society Advocate.
Kennedy.awowoh@thegreatleapforward.org
awowohkennedy@gmail.com
+234(0)7038495773
@awowohkennedy
Gray Attorneys 