In an open letter to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, SERAP said: “It is important to do this to send a powerful message that election-related violence, intimidation and killings will not be tolerated under your watch.”
The letter, which was signed by the deputy director of SERAP, Mr. Kolawole Oluwadare, said that “referral of the cases of election-related violence, intimidation and killings to the ICC would serve as a deterrent and ensure that Nigerians, particularly victims in the states that have repeatedly witnessed violence and whose human rights have been violated are not denied justice and effective remedies.”
It noted that the violence, intimidation and killings in some states around the just concluded general elections suggest that the electoral law and criminal law have over the years not been adequately enforced, and deterrence, through criminal sanctions, is failing.
“Electoral violence – a species of political violence – is not only a criminal act but crimes under international law, given its widespread and systematic nature over many years.
“Apart from undermining the integrity of elections and the democratic process, the repeated failure of successive governments to punish electoral violence has created a culture of impunity among politicians who persistently recruit and arm thugs to intimidate and kill political opponents, and citizens who are simply exercising their rights to participate in their own government,” SERAP said.
It stated that its demand is in pursuant to article 13 of the Rome Statute to which Nigeria is a signatory.
More than 30 persons were reportedly killed and several others injured during Saturday’s presidential and legislative polls.