Femi Falana threatens to drag South-African govt to court

Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana has threatened to drag the South African government to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights over the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians.

According to Punch, Falana said this in a letter which he wrote to the President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma.

The lawyer also called on the government of South-Africa to investigate the issue and fish out those behind the attacks.

According to Falana, the South-African government is to blame for the continued attacks.

He said “We believe that it is the failure of your government to bring perpetrators to justice and protect the victims of the xenophobic attacks that has resulted in a vicious cycle of attacks and impunity.

“These xenophobic attacks and violence are not only human rights violations but also criminal acts, and the persistent failure to proactively address the problems is a serious affront to the rule of law, and directly breaches your government’s international human rights obligations including under the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, particularly Article 12 on the right to movement.

“We therefore urge you to move swiftly to address the debilitating situation by identifying and arresting the perpetrators and bringing them to justice promptly.

“We also urge you to publicly commit to providing access to justice and effective remedy to victims. Effectively prosecuting the perpetrators and providing reparations to victims would serve as a deterrent to future attacks.

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“We also urge you to put measures in place to proactively protect non-nationals including Nigerians living in South Africa.”

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has mandated a delegation to visit South-African Parliament.