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Islamic Human Rights Council (IHRC)
The protest was peaceful according to IHRC
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Islamic Human Rights Council (IHRC)
Women were part of the peaceful procession
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Islamic Human Rights Council (IHRC)
Shot and injured
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An injured man being helped by volunteers
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Islamic Human Rights Council (IHRC)
Some of the injured being taken to hospital
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Islamic Human Rights Council (IHRC)
A woman with part of her leg amputated as a result of bullet wound
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Burying the dead
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Islamic Human Rights Council (IHRC)
Ammunition collected from the scene of the procession
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Islamic Human Rights Council (IHRC)
Decoding the Nigerian Army message
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Islamic Human Rights Council (IHRC)
Nigerian Army's version of events
A report launched by London-based Islamic Human Rights Council (IHRC) has accused the Nigerian military of war crimes.
The findings of the investigation into a little reported massacre of dozens of civilians during an annual demonstration last July was compiled by a fact-finding team from the IHRC which visited the country shortly after the massacre. 'Nigeria: The Zaria Massacres and the Role of the Military' is the first public presentation of the report which documents the facts behind the gruesome killings.
Based on the testimony of eye-witnesses including demonstrators, bystanders and medical professionals, the report documents how on Friday 25 July, a peaceful demonstration in support of the Palestinians was without provocation brutally attacked by the Nigerian military. A total of 32 people were killed, with some dying in custody after being savagely beaten. At least two more civilians were killed the next day in a similar attack on the funeral preparations.
The IHRC team also found evidence that many of those arrested died in military custody. Reports indicate that some demonstrators were taken into detention alive and well, and later emerged dead with signs of torture on their bodies. Others who were injured were detained for hours and brutalised before being allowed to seek medical treatment.
The findings include videos and photographs of Nigerian soldiers firing on unarmed protestors located at the tail end of the march. Bystanders were among those killed in the violence.
Among those killed were three sons of Sheikh Ibrahim Al-Zakzaky, a fierce critic of political corruption as well as the so-called Boko Haram movement.
The march in Zaria was one of at least 50 Al-Quds Day processions that took place in towns and cities across Nigeria. Al-Quds Day has been observed peacefully in Nigeria over the last 33 years under the leadership of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, a mass movement led by Sheikh Zakzaky.
Nigeria's troops are currently in the spotlight for other recorded abuses against Muslims. Gruesome video footage circulated widely on the internet and used in TV documentaries shows them slitting the throats of alleged members and supporters of the Boko Haram Movement. IHRC's findings support the growing view that a section of Nigeria's powerful military is out of control, committing murder and extra-judicial assassinations with apparent impunity.
* Read Full Report at: http://ihrc.org.uk/publications/reports/11219-nigeria-report-the-zaria-massacres-and-the-role-of-the-military