feared that the Victims would be executed by the Edo State Authorities. The
Complainant avers that the decision by the Governor of Edo State to sign the
death warrants of the Victims, whilst their Appeal is pending, constitutes a
fundamental breach of their right to fair trial, including the right to an appeal to
an independent and impartial tribunal.
6. The Complainant further alleges that the Governor of Edo State signed the
execution warrants two weeks after prison authorities informed him that death
row inmates in the Benin prison were 'becoming unmanageable.' It informs the
Commission that some death row inmates had been involved in a recent jailbreak
incident in Oko prison in Edo State. The Complainant alleges that as a means to
decongest the country prisons, the resumption of executions by Edo State follows
an announcement by State Governors in June 2011 that they would review all
cases of death row inmates and sign off executions as a means of decongesting
the country's prisons.
7. The Complainant argues that the planned execution of the Victims on the sole
ground that they are 'becoming unmanageable' while they still have their appeal
pending, does not offer a fair and effective solution to the perceived problem of
prison overcrowding.
The Complainant alleges that not only have the Victims been deprived of their
liberty and other fair trial rights, but also alleges that the Victims' conditions are
now characterized by depression/loss of sense of reality and physical and mental
deterioration; massive deprivation of personal autonomy critical to psychological
rvival; and emotional emptiness.
9. The Complainant avers that the 2004 National Study Group on Death Penalty
and the 2007 Presidential Commission on the Administration of Justice both
stressed that the Nigerian criminal justice system cannot guarantee a fair trial,
and called for a moratorium on the death penalty.
10. Quoting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Complainant states that
"recognition of the inherent dignity and the equal and inalienable rights of all
members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in
the world", that "[e]veryone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public
hearing... of any criminal charge", and that "[ejveryone charged with a penal
offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to
law in a public trial".
11. It further argues that the right to a fair trial is a fundamental safeguard to ensure
that individuals are not unjustly punished. It is indispensable for the protection
of other human rights such as the right to freedom from torture and cruel or
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