De sad indespærret i overfyldte tugthuse i det nordøstlige NIgeria, hvor militæret søger at knuse den ekstreme og voldelige islamist-gruppe Boko Haram – så mange er døde, at der er rapporter om massebegravelser flere steder, skriver BBC online mandag.
Amnesty International said some detainees died from suffocation (blev kvalt) in overcrowded cells, others from starvation and extra-judicial killings (summariske henrettelser).
It is calling for an urgent investigation into the deaths. The Nigerian army has rejected all previous accusations of human rights abuses.
A senior Nigerian army officer told Amnesty that at least 950 people had died in military custody during the first half of this year.
At times, the number of people killed in these detention centres was so high that there were regular mass burials, Amnesty said.
The BBC has seen photos of bodies reportedly dumped outside the mortuary in the city of Maiduguri by the military. The bodies showed no obvious signs of having been killed in combat.
Most had been accused of having links to the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, Amnesty said.
Boko Haram is fighting to overthrow Nigeria’s government to create an Islamic state, and has launched a number of attacks on schools.
About 50 students were shot dead earlier this month in their hostel, in an attack blamed on Boko Haram.
A state of emergency was declared in three northern states in May – Yobe, Borno and Adamawa – in response to thousands of deaths in militant attacks.
