TY - JOUR ID - 166279 TI - Impunity: An Impetus For Repeated Atrocities Nigerian Army As A Case Study JO - CIFILE Journal of International Law JA - CIFJ LA - en SN - 2563-6820 AU - Nwagbara, Izuchukwu Temilade AD - Lawyer, Research Volunteer at CIFILE, British Nigeria Law Forum, Nigeria Y1 - 2023 PY - 2023 VL - 4 IS - 7 SP - 62 EP - 79 KW - atrocities KW - Human rights KW - International Crimes KW - lustration KW - Impunity DO - 10.30489/cifj.2023.378065.1060 N2 - Since Nigeria’s transition back to democracy in 1999, the atrocities of the erstwhile military regimes have been left practically unaddressed. Though the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (‘HRVIC’ or ‘Oputa panel’) was set up in 1999 to investigate human rights violations of the erstwhile military regime, the HRVIC’s report was discarded by the federal government. Hence, unlike Argentina's lustration efforts post-military dictatorship resulted in trials and convictions, Nigeria’s lustration efforts were unfruitful. Nigeria is a party to international human rights treaties. As such, it has an obligation under international to address human rights violations, albeit inertia is the status quo. Despite Nigeria’s obligation under international law, this inertia has led the Nigerian army to proceed with its impunity unabated. Three separate events of military impunity post-1999 are examined to support the proposition that impunity leads to more atrocities, as is the case with the Nigerian army. UR - https://www.cifilejournal.com/article_166279.html L1 - https://www.cifilejournal.com/article_166279_9e5ad8ca818bd364ac471d76382e15b4.pdf ER -