Nigerian Bill Proposes Death Penalty for Hate Speech

snaves (39)in #freespeech • 6 years ago

Nigerian Senate

OK, so this isn't quite as bad as the headline alone would suggest. The bill proposed by Nigerian Senator Aliyu Sabi-Abdullahi would impose death by hanging for any person found guilty of hate speech which results in the death of another person. Not all hate speech. It also seeks to establish an Independent National Commission for Hate Speeches to enforce hate speech laws and jail time or fines for harassment on the grounds of ethnicity or race.

Critics fear that the proposed law would undermine freedom of expression. They are concerned by the vague definition of hate speech and the possibility the law could be used as an instrument of censorship. Proponents of the bill say that it is necessary for curtailing ethnic violence.

As there is a large Nigerian community here on Steemit, I'd love to get a local perspective on this bill. Please leave a comment! :)

Arguments For:

"Hate speech … is targeted at an identified group and as a result leads to violence or disorder. ... People who may be having some opposing views about it definitely are not in the category of people who have lost dear ones and family or livelihood to similar circumstances. If they are, I think they will be saying how I wish this was in place before this thing happened to me."
~ Senator Aliyu Sabi-Abdullahi

"You have to understand the essence of hate speech particularly to the extent of damage it can cause in a nation, when you look at the African countries. Let’s use Rwanda for an example, imagine the people that died there in genocide. It started from hate speech, imagine the number of people that will die. Once you see that there is justification in taking every harsh measure to ensure that lives are not wasted because of such instigations. The law should take drastic action to ensure that people’s lives are not wasted because of the people who indulge in this act for the purpose of their selfish aims. When you look at the damage it will cost, one singular statement made by somebody irresponsibly or mischievously just to ensure that he creates disunity among the people can destabilize the nation."
~ Mr. Ibrahim Bawa, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN)

"I have always said that hate speech is not free speech. For example, while the Nigerian constitution guarantees freedom of speech, it does not guarantee freedom of hate speech, because hate speech could be the precursor of violence, of genocide. ... Hate speech or what later became known as ‘Hate Media,’ was a major catalyst of [the Rwandan] genocide."
~ Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture

Arguments Against:

"It could be used to curtail speech, to frighten people. It's very difficult to make a distinction between what people call hate speech and offensive speech. ... Offensive speech may be uncomfortable, but it is generally accepted and it contributes to the whole market place of ideas on which democracy thrives."
~ Jideofor Adibe, Professor of Political Science at Nasarawa State University

"We feel like it [the legislation] could be turned into an instrument of censorship. Instead of getting more and more people rightfully pursued for hate speech, we find more and more outspoken journalists prosecuted for hate speech."
~ Arnaud Froger, head of Reporters Without Borders' Africa desk

"Even the law covers incitement. If you incite people to go and do something, you will be convicted of it. But even if you go and incite people and they go and kill, and you are not part of it, they will say it is conspiracy then you convict the person or punish him or something else not murder. You can criminalise hate speech because I know that some speeches are serious. But making provision for death penalty amounts to curtailing freedom of speech. So you need a serious conceptualization and definition because the person will say don’t I have the customary right to say whatever I want? That right is not absolute, but the impression you are going to create from it is a serious one. For death penalty on hate speech, you have no value for life. Has the hate speech led to a war? By the time you are saying somebody’s speech is making people to do something then you are getting on the realm of incitement, which again is also covered by the law."
~ Dr. Abiodun Layonu (SAN)

"To a country where the lives of her citizens should matter, even the lives of offenders, death sentence for a civil offence under the hate speech bill is overreaching. Thus, death sentence under the contentious and undemocratic hate speech bill is in total contravention of the freedom of speech as enshrined in our Constitution, which is the highest law of the land."
~ Mr. Samuel Zibiri (SAN)

"The Current Hate Speech Bill will jeopardize the exercise of legitimate speech because of its overly broad language and the inherent capacity it offers a government to being used as a tool of intimidation, repression and abuse. Security or law enforcement officials may, as we have seen repeatedly in the past, use such laws to muzzle free speech. The Bill says a speech would qualify as a hate speech if it is intended to stir up “ethnic hatred”. There are no bright lines that demarcate the boundaries of what is intended by the maker of a speech or not intended by him or her, and a despotic, authoritarian or desperate government can input any intention to anyone in order to silence them."
~ Mr. Joseph Oteh, Director, Access to Justice, Lagos

I side with those that say the death penalty is an overreach and that the type of speech that would result in the deaths of others would most likely already be illegal under laws against incitement. "Hate speech" is a vague, subjective term that is prone to abuse. Who gets to determine what constitutes hateful speech? It's those in power, which leads to censorship of dissenting views.

Again, as someone from the US, I'd be interested in hearing local perspectives on the bill. The US treats speech differently than other countries, with the Supreme Court repeatedly defending the right to be hateful and offensive. The Nigerian Constitution does state, "Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference," but doesn't have the same protections as in the US.

Sources:

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Nigerian Bill Proposes Death Penalty for Hate Speech

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