Army detention centre in Giwa Barracks ‘a place of death’ – Amnesty International

Amnesty International on Wednesday declared that no fewer than 149 detainees have died in dreadful conditions while being detained by the military in Maiduguri, Borno State, this year.

The body in its latest report said 11 of those who died at the Giwa barracks were young children, including four babies.

It referred to the detention centre as “a place of death” which must be shut automatically.

In a BBC report, the report is the latest of several other damning reports on the Nigerian military’s treatment of suspects.

In the report, Amnesty said information it got from interviews with former detainees and eyewitnesses, as well as video and photographs, show that many detainees may have died from disease, hunger, dehydration, and gunshot wounds.

“The discovery that babies and young children have died in appalling conditions in military detention is both harrowing and horrifying,” said Netsanet Belay, Amnesty’s research and advocacy director for Africa.

“We have repeatedly sounded the alarm over the high death rate of detainees in Giwa barracks but these findings show that, for both adults and children, it remains a place of death.”

The report recommended the immediate closure of the barracks and the release of all detainees.

The army has not, however, reacted to the latest report but had earlier said it has set up a human rights department to investigate abuses.

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