Eco-justice in Nigeria.

• Author: Bright, Chris

International outrage over the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a prominent Nigerian writer and political activist, appears thus far to have had little effect on the behavior of that country's military government. (See Aaron Sachs, "Dying for Oil," May/June.) Saro-Wiwa had been instrumental in organizing opposition to the environmental and human rights abuses associated with oil development in the Niger River delta, the home of his Ogoni people. He and eight fellow activists were executed last November, after a military tribunal convicted them of murder in a proceeding widely denounced as an outrage to justice.

In the wake of the executions, South Africa, the United States, and the European Union countries recalled their diplomats; the Commonwealth suspended Nigeria's membership; and activists launched a boycott of Royal/Dutch Shell, the company responsible for most of the oil development in the delta. The United States and EU countries also banned foreign aid, arms sales, and visitors' visas.

The protests do seem to be forcing the regime of Sani Abacha, the 52-year-old general who seized power in 1993, to rethink its judicial tactics - though not necessarily its real intentions. Another 17 activists had been scheduled for trial on the same improbable murder charges for which Saro-Wiwa and his colleagues were executed, and before the same tribunal. But the proceedings have been put on hold pending a judicial review of the tribunal's jurisdiction. Although the review was supposed to have been completed in February, it had yet to conclude by the end of April. The 17 activists, meanwhile, remain in prison.

The regime's dealings with other dissidents, however, show little sign of change. In late March and early April, a UN mission toured the country to investigate the problems in Ogoniland and the reasons for Nigeria's long-delayed transition to democracy, now scheduled for October 1998. The human rights group Amnesty International reported that at least 19 people had been detained during that time, apparently to prevent them from speaking with the UN representatives. Among those arrested is Anyakwee Nsirimovu, the director of a local organization, the Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. In early May, Nsirimovu was still being held without charge at an unknown location. More ominous still was the build-up of Nigerian troops in the delta region, reported in mid-May by the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, the organization...