UN Speaks On Death Penalty For Hate Speech In Nigeria

The United Nations (UN) has opposed the death penalty clause in the proposed National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speech Bill introduced by Senator Sabi Abdullah, the Deputy Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate.

YaahooJournalist understands that the bill states that any person who violates the law shall be liable to life imprisonment and where the act causes any loss of life, the person shall be punished with death by hanging.

Reacting,  the UN described the death penalty as barbaric, noting that its inclusion in the bill was unacceptable.

In an interview with PUNCH,  the spokesman, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Olusola Macaulay, said the UN would not support the bill, noting that a UNESCO advocacy group, Media and Information Literacy Coalition, would soon meet with the National Assembly over the proposed legislation.

His words: “We are trying to pay an advocacy visit to the government and do some lobbying. There is a coalition working already, it was formed with the support of UNESCO.

“They are working to meet with the National Assembly to express their mind and possibly advise the government to have a different narrative to the issue of hate speech and fake news.”

The spokesman also said the UN would lobby the Federal Government on the legislation, adding that what was needed is public enlightenment and education about hate speech and not a law stipulating the death penalty for violators.

“I’m not sure what the government needs now is a bill or an idea to shut down people or prevent people from being able to express themselves or express their freedom of thought or information. What I think the government should do more is to enlighten the people,” he said.

Macaulay said most Nigerians were ignorant of issues relating to media and information literacy, noting that a harsh law was not the solution to the challenge.

The global body noted, “Every human being has the right to life and you cannot cut off people’s lives just because someone has expressed his opinion. Nobody is saying hate speech is good.

“Hate speech and fake news have been there from time immemorial and it is barbaric to say now that we want to hang people because they expressed their feelings or what they had in mind. So, censoring people or limiting people from participating in politics might not be the correct thing. As I said, the best thing to do is to educate the people,” he added.

The UN agency queried the government for not holding politicians engaging in hate speech to account, noting that many of them had said things that could destabilise the country without being held liable.