Amnesty International has strongly condemned the dismissal of Mr Bukhari Bello as Executive Secretary of the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), by letter from the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of the Nigerian Federation. Amnesty International is concerned by this serious interference with the independence of the NHRC since it hampers an independent scrutiny of the domestic human rights situation aimed to affect change in policies and practices. Amnesty International is also concerned about the increasing level of cases of intimidation of independent human rights defenders and activists involved in promoting respect for human rights in Nigeria.
