[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 157 (Sunday, November 9, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S12404-S12405]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN MEMORY OF THE OGONI 9

 Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, today I want to commemorate the 
anniversary of the tragic deaths of nine Nigerian activists. Two years 
ago this week, Mr. Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni leaders were 
brutally executed by the regime of Gen. Sani Abacha.
  Ken Saro-Wiwa was a renowned playwright and author, who also happened 
to be the president of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni 
People, or MOSOP. He and several other colleagues were arrested shortly 
after four rival Ogoni leaders were killed by a mob in May 1994. They 
were detained without charge for a year, until May 19, 1995. Then, 
after trials that are

[[Page S12405]]

widely believed to have been unfair and politically motivated, Saro-
Wiwa and eight others--Barinem Kiobel, Saturday Doobee, Paul Levura, 
Nordu Eawo, Felix Nuate, Daniel Gbokoo, John Kpuinen and Baribor Bera--
were convicted of complicity in the 1994 murders, and sentenced to 
death by a civil disturbances special tribunal run by the military.
  Mr. President, when the death sentences of these individuals were 
first made public, I and many other members of Congress asked General 
Abacha to have mercy and exercise his prerogative of executive 
clemency. We wrote to President Clinton and made calls to the Nigerian 
representatives to the United Nations and Washington. But, alas, our 
efforts were to no avail. The nine men were hanged on November 10, 
1995.
  Now, Mr. President, 19 other Ogoni activists remain in prison in 
Nigeria on the same trumped up charges and could face a similar fate. 
According to reports from several human rights organizations, the Ogoni 
19 have been severely beaten and tortured, and many are suffering from 
ill health. They reportedly are kept in insanitary prison conditions, 
are denied food and medical treatment, and rarely, if at all, are 
granted access to outside visitors, including their lawyers. This lack 
of contact has stalled attempts to have the detainees released on bail 
or brought to trial before ordinary, civilian courts. The situation is 
so dire that, in August, the detainees went on a hunger strike for 10 
days to protest the continuing obstructions to their release or trial. 
The authorities reportedly have had no response.
  Alas, the deplorable condition of these Ogoni activists is not unique 
in Nigeria. Hundreds of individuals remain in detention centers or 
prisons for seemingly political motivations. The flawed judicial 
process that led to the 1995 death sentences is still in place and 
threatens the lives of these political prisoners. Numerous Nigerian 
laws allow for arbitrary detention for reasons ranging from ``personal 
pique by a senior official to `national security,''' according to 
information provided to me by the State Department.
  With a population of more than 100 million people and vast natural 
resources, Nigeria has the potential to be one of the most important 
players on the African stage. But the military junta led by General 
Abacha is squandering the country's future by rampant corruption, 
severe economic mismanagement, and brutal policies that threaten basic 
freedoms. Moreover, the so-called transition program bears little hope 
of ensuring a transition to a fairly elected civilian government.
  As we remember the lives of the Ogoni 9, let us not forget those 
Nigerians whose struggle for basic freedoms continues even now. I hope 
my colleagues will join me in honoring this solemn occasion.

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