World Public Forum "Dialogue of Civilizations"

In a statement issued today, Professor Hans Köchler, President of the International Progress Organization and a member of the International Coordinating Committee of the World Public Forum "Dialogue of Civilizations," condemned the renewed intercommunal violence near the city of Jos in Nigeria's Plateau State.

The massacre of at least two hundred villagers of the Berom (Christian) community last weekend  follows a massacre of hundreds of people of the Hausa Fulani (Muslim) community last January. Since 2001, more than 2,000 people have been killed in communal violence in Nigeria's Plateau State. The renewed atrocities between ethnic groups not only jeopardize the stability of the Nigerian state, but also threaten the relations between Muslim and Christian communities elsewhere.

In the absence of effective action by the government and police of Plateau State, the President of the I.P.O. called upon the national government of Nigeria to take immediate measures to protect the population and bring the perpetrators to justice. In order to end the cycle of violence, the cycle of impunity has to be broken. The main instigators of the atrocities should be charged for crimes against humanity.

Professor Köchler called upon the African Union and the United Nations Human Rights Council to undertake their statutory responsibility and remind the government of the Republic of Nigeria of its obligations under African and international human rights covenants.

I.P.O. Information Service