Nigerian women and girls abducted by the militant group Boko Haram suffer a range of abuses at the hands of their captors including rape, physical and psychological abuse, forced religious conversion and marriage, according to a new report.
The Human Rights Watch report, titled "Those Terrible Weeks in Their Camp," contains information obtained from in-depth interviews with 30 women who were kidnapped by Boko Haram militants, and 16 individuals who witnessed the abductions.
The victims who were interviewed were held in different Boko Haram camps scattered throughout the country's northeast.
Last April, the group Boko Haram, whose name loosely translates as "Western education is forbidden," became the focus of international attention after the abduction of 276 girls from a secondary school in the rural town of Chibok.
The mass abduction sparked a global campaign to have the girls freed, organized around the social media hashtag #BringBackOurGirls.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 12 girls who were among the 276 kidnapped from the school. Approximately 219 schoolgirls remain in captivity.
A ceasefire between the Nigerian military and Boko Haram was declared on Oct. 17, raising hopes that the remaining girls would be released. However, kidnappings and battles since then have cast doubt on the veracity of the ceasefire.
Targeted for their religion, education
Most of the abductions highlighted in the report took place in a predominantly Christian region in Borno State, leading the authors to believe that the victims were targeted because of their religion or affiliation with Western-style schools.
After they were taken captive, many of the girls were threatened with death if they refused to convert to Islam, the report says.
It gives one example where a young woman was threatened with hanging unless she agreed to renounce her religion. She told Human Rights Watch she eventually agreed because she feared for her life.
"I was dragged to the camp leader who told me the reason I was brought to the camp was because we Christians worship three gods. When I objected to his claim, he tied a rope around my neck and beat me with a plastic cable until I almost passed out," she said.
"An insurgent who I recognized from my village convinced me to accept Islam lest I should be killed, so I agreed."
The report said others were threatened with whipping, beating, or death unless they converted, stopped attending school, and complied with Islamic dressing rules.
In videos released in 2013, Boko Haram's leader also suggested that its soldiers conduct abductions to punish the Nigerian government for imprisoning militants' family members.
Many women told Human Rights Watch that they were eventually released after converting to Islam.
Forced marriage, rape
Six of the victims interviewed in the report were forced to marry. Many witnesses told Human Rights Watch that they had seen others forced to marry Boko Haram soldiers, with little regard given to the victim's age.
A 17-year-old girl told Human Rights Watch that, when she told to a Boko Haram commander that she was too young for marriage, he pointed his gun at his five-year-old daughter and said: "If she got married last year, and is just waiting till puberty for its consummation, how can you at your age be too young to marry?"
After the marriages, there were several reported instances of rape, with Human Rights Watch documenting eight specific cases of sexual violence.
However, social workers who have experience working with some of the victims, note that many cases of rape go unreported because of the stigma associated with sexual abuse.
In a video interview, a victim named Gloria said she pleaded with her attacker to leave her alone because she had a baby.
"One of them raped me," she said. "I kept pleading for him to leave me alone, but he refused to listen and told me to put my baby down. So I put her down."
Warning: Details revealed in the video may be disturbing to some viewers.
Another victim described in the report how a Boko Haram commander's wife watched while she was attacked in 2013.
"When the insurgent who had paid my dowry came in to force himself on me, the commander's wife blocked the cave entrance and watched as the man raped me," she said.
Forced participation in military operations
Some of the victims interviewed by Human Rights Watch described how they were forced to carry out military duties for the group.
A victim named Hauwa said she had spent time on a Boko Haram camp carrying ammunition for the group. But one day, militants pressured her to kill a man.
"When they wanted me to kill the first man, my body was shaking and I fell down on the ground," she said in a video interview.
"They forced me to get up and watch as they killed the second person. At that point, I was thinking I should grab a gun from the insurgents and kill myself since they had taught us how to shoot."
Retaliation attacks carried out by Nigerian security forces
Human Rights Watch says it has documented "widespread" abuses carried out by members of the Nigerian security forces, often in retaliation for Boko Haram attacks.
"Since 2009, security forces have used excessive force, burned homes, engaged in physical abuse, 'disappeared' victims, and extra-judicially killed those suspected of supporting Boko Haram," the report says.
The report notes that very few of those suspected of participating in attacks against alleged Boko Haram supporters have ever been prosecuted.
Human Rights Watch urges Nigerian authorities to investigate these reports, based on international fair trial standards and to ensure accountability.
Calls for increased protection for women, girls
Human Rights Watch makes several recommendations in the report to the Nigerian government. The recommendations include:
- increasing medical and mental health services for victims of abduction and violence;
- investigate and prosecute members of Boko Haram and pro-government vigilante groups who committed crimes in violation of international law;
- establish an independent commission to probe allegations of human rights abuses by government security forces.
The report also calls on Boko Haram to halt attacks against all non-combatants, and release all civillian captives immediately.
It is estimated that Boko Haram has abducted at least 500 women and girls from northern Nigeria since 2009.
