ABSTRACT
This study is on an evaluation of human right protection on crime suspects in Nigeria The total population for the study is 200 staff of human right commission, Uyo. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up legal advisers, administrative staffs, senior staffs and junior staffs was used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The idea of human rights is that there are certain rights attached to the individual which should not be taken away from him except in circumstances considered reasonable and allowed by law. Human rights are those rights which the international community recognizes as belonging to all individuals by the very fact of their humanity. These rights combined with traditional legal system seek to protect the essential rights of its subject. The most banal statement on the concept of human rights is that it is the modern name for what have been traditionally known as natural rights. These rights may be defined as moral rights which every human being everywhere at all times ought to have simply because of the fact that, in contradistinction with other being, he is rational and moral. The rights that human beings enjoy stem either from nature or are conferred by law while some rights are both natural and legal in nature. These rights are to ensure fairness in dealings among human beings and should not be violated except as permitted by law. At the international level, there exist ten core human rights instruments which are given recognition. They are the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD) Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Convention on the Rights of the Child, International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Nigeria is a signatory to these instruments. At the national level, the Constitution, the Evidence Act, the Judges rule and the criminal procedural rules contain provisions on how to treat a criminal suspect otherwise called an accused person. The treatment given to the accused person at the time of arrest and interrogation goes a long way in determining the voluntariness or otherwise of his confessional statement and hence its admissibility in evidence. A suspect or an accused person is one who has been arrested on the suspicion of committing an offence and who is yet to be formally charged for that offence. On arrest, the freedom of movement of the suspect is deprived him. Despite this, he still has rights open to him. The criminal justice system presumes a suspect to be innocent until proved guilty. The burden of proof lies on the prosecutor. This accusatorial method therefore presupposes that the suspect should be treated as a human being with dignity while investigation is on-going. This article is divided into five parts, the first being this introductory. The second part analyses the rights of the suspect under the Nigerian criminal justice system.
In Nigeria, the rights of a suspect/accused person can be found in the statutes and case law. A suspect is equally entitled to the fundamental human rights entrenched in the Constitution. These rights include: Right to Life, right to dignity of human person, right to personal liberty, right to fair hearing, right to private and family life, right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, right to freedom of expression and the press, right to peaceful Assembly and Association, right to freedom from Discrimination, right to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria. The question is the rights mentioned above, are they observe in Nigeria?
The objectives of the study are;
- To evaluate the human right protection on crime suspect in Nigeria
- To assess whether all human rights are observing in Nigeria
- To assess the causes of human right abuse in Nigeria
For the successful completion of the study, the following research hypotheses were formulated by the researcher;
H0: there is no the human right protection on crime suspect in Nigeria
H1: there is the human right protection on crime suspect in Nigeria
H02: there are no causes of human right abuse in Nigeria
H2: there are causes of human right abuse in Nigeria
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This study will assess the human rights in Nigeria. A suspect is equally entitled to the fundamental human rights entrenched in the Constitution. These rights include: Right to Life, right to dignity of human person, right to personal liberty, right to fair hearing, right to private and family life, right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, right to freedom of expression and the press, right to peaceful Assembly and Association, right to freedom from Discrimination, right to acquire and own immovable property anywhere in Nigeria. This study will be very significant to students, human right commission and the general public
- SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
The scope of the study covers an evaluation of human right protection on crime suspects in Nigeria. The researcher encounters some constrain which limited the scope of the study;
- a) AVAILABILITY OF RESEARCH MATERIAL: The research material available to the researcher is insufficient, thereby limiting the study
- b) TIME: The time frame allocated to the study does not enhance wider coverage as the researcher has to combine other academic activities and examinations with the study.
1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS
HUMAN RIGHT: Human rights are moral principles or norms that describe certain standards of human behaviour and are regularly protected as natural and legal rights in municipal and international law
CRIME: In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term “crime” does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition, though statutory definitions have been provided for certain purposes.
SUSPECT: In law enforcement jargon, a suspect is a known person accused or suspected of committing a crime. Police and reporters in the Nigeria often use the word suspect as a jargon when referring to the perpetrator of the offense
AN EVALUATION OF HUMAN RIGHT PROTECTION ON CRIME SUSPECT IN NIGERIA
