MOSCOW, October 27 (RIA Novosti) - The international community and the Nigerian government should investigate and prosecute human rights violations committed by Islamic sect Boko Haram, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released Monday.
"The international community should encourage and support transparent investigations and prosecution of perpetrators of human rights abuses by Boko Haram as well as violations by government security forces and allied groups, and should assist the Nigerian government to provide protection for schools as well as physical and mental health care to all victims of abductions and other violations perpetrated by Boko Haram," the report published on the organization's website said.
The report, "Those Terrible Weeks in their Camp: Boko Haram Violence against Women and Girls in Northeast Nigeria," is based on interviews with 30 abducted Nigerian women and girls conducted from June through August.
According to the report, most of the victims are Christians or students or both. According to their statements, those who refused to convert to Islam were subjected to physical, psychological and sexual abuse, as well as to forced labor and participation in military operations. Some of the women and girls were forced to marry Boko Haram commanders.
On October 17, a ceasefire between Boko Haram and the Nigerian Armed Forces was announced by chief of defense staff Marshal Alex Badeh. The truce was aimed at securing the release of some 200 schoolgirls abducted by the group in April.
The girls were supposed to be released by October 21, nevertheless, they still remain in the hands of Boko Haram commanders, who launched a series of new attacks on Nigerian villages, killing and abducting more people.
Due to these developments many remain skeptical about the release of the schoolgirls who were kidnapped in April while taking their exams in a secondary school in the northeastern town of Chibok. Previous attempts at negotiations with Boko Haram failed to secure a peace deal, mostly due to the fact that the group comprises several factions.
Boko Haram is an extremist sect of Islam that claims politics in northern Nigeria are under the control of corrupt false Muslims. The group, whose name roughly translates to "Western education is sinful," aims to establish a "pure" Islamic state ruled by sharia law.
