Women MUST banned together in order to prevent this from happening

We must make sure our representatives KNOW that we will NOT stand for our country sending money to these types of countries. If they will stone a women to death for $ex, then they should get NOT one penny from the US!! And they should NOT be on our 'friends' list either such as Jordon and Saudi.

Stoning sentence for Nigerian mom raises global issues
By Kari Huus, MSNBC
Read Entire Story Here

Under the glare of the international spotlight, a court in Nigeria on Thursday is expected to decide the fate of Amina Lawal, a young mother sentenced to death by stoning. After an 18-month court battle, this is her final chance to appeal for leniency under a harsh interpretation of Islamic law. There are good reasons that this case has drawn widespread attention, but experts say the basic fact of Lawal's case -- condemnation to death for adultery or another sexual offense -- is not as rare as it would seem.

NIGERIA IS JUST one of at least two dozen largely Muslim countries or regions where Islamic law, or Sharia, is practiced. But the application of Sharia -- which prescribes a code of conduct for Allah's followers --varies radically from place to place, and is often combined with other types of judicial systems.
Rarely, except under dictatorial regimes such as Iran, Sudan and Afghanistan under the Taliban, does the state impose such harsh penalties as the one meted out to Amina Lawal in Nigeria, where a democratically elected government is in place. And in Muslim states that do invoke the death penalty, it is not carried out through such medieval means as stoning, nearly universally condemned by international human rights groups and governments as an exceptionally cruel means of execution.

'The Amina Lawal case is extreme because of the international attention it has generated and the complicity at the highest levels of the government,' says Isabel Coleman, a senior fellow and expert on Muslim society at the Council on Foreign Relations.

'In many parts of the Muslim world, there is a good deal of embarrassment' about the Lawal case, says Ali Mazrui, director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies at Binghamton University.

The extremity of the case is at least partly due to the unstable political climate in Nigeria, which returned to civilian rule in May 1999, after 14 years under a military dictatorship. With the end of that regime, long-simmering tensions erupted between the mostly Islamic north of the country, and the Christian and animist south. In a political bargain, 12 states in the north instituted an extreme interpretation of Sharia law. Among other things, this interpretation extended the death penalty to cover sexual crimes. President Olusegun Obasanjo consented to the change.

It was in the wake of this change that Amina Lawal, a 30-year-old divorcee, was arrested nine days after giving birth. The local court exonerated Lawal's alleged sexual partner, who merely denied his involvement, but charged Lawal with adultery -- and sentenced her to be buried up to the chest and stoned until 'all life leaves her body.' The execution was to be carried out as soon as her baby daughter, Wasila, was old enough to be weaned, or January 2004.

To some extent, Lawal's case is a test by the north's Islamic leaders of their power and independence under the current system. While previous stoning sentences have been overturned at lower levels, this sentence has persisted, and appeals have led Lawal all the way to the Supreme Court of the country.

Obasanjo, a Christian like about 40 percent of Nigerians, has said he expected the Supreme Court would overturn the case. But he declined to step in to halt the process, evidently weighing the political backlash, and the possibility that sectarian violence would again flare in the West African Nation. Muslims make up at least 50 percent of Nigeria's population.

The president remained on the sidelines of the court battle, despite persistent pressure from around the world to intervene. One of the more embarrassing moments came last November when the Miss World pageant canceled its plans to crown a new beauty queen in Nigeria's capital of Abuja, in a high-profile protest against the stoning sentence. Human rights groups point out that if Nigeria carried out the sentence, it would violate several human rights treaties to which the country is a signatory, as well as the Nigerian constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

HONOR KILLINGS
Unfortunately, say experts, there are people like Amina Lawal around the globe, who are killed for the same crime, while the state looks the other way.

'This is the unofficial law of many countries,' says Coleman. 'What is happening (in Nigeria) is happening around the world all the time. You just don't hear about it.'

What Coleman refers to are 'honor killings' -- often committed by the father or brother of a woman who has had sex outside of marriage, or been raped. The cases are well-documented in Pakistan, Jordan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and elsewhere in the Middle East. Even as courts in many countries have halted or limited sentencing to harsh physical punishments -- such as stoning or chopping off the hand of a thief -- they sometimes continue at the village level.

And critics say many countries have done little to stop the practice of honor killings -- by stoning or more modern means -- even though it is officially banned. Pakistan, for instance, forbids honor killings, but Coleman says that courts give their perpetrators light sentences -- typically six months to a year in prison. Even in Iran, Coleman says, the use of harsh Sharia punishments has tapered off some in recent years, but honor killings are common. 'What the constitution says, and how the law is carried out, are two very different, almost unrelated, things,' she says.

Re: Women MUST banned together in order to prevent this from happening

Michele, I have been following the case ever since it was featured on Oprah. It really is unbelievable that this still occurs. I agree with you - we should not be giving countries that allow this to occur any assistance!

Re: Women MUST banned together in order to prevent this from happening

Couldn't agree more! Unfortunately, USA helps many countries in that region that don't deserve one penny of our money! And after we help, they main population still hates us!

Re: Women MUST banned together in order to prevent this from happening

i agree with you...its horrible stoning women--
and these ' honor killings' that family members actually kill the girl if something happens to the girl that may dishonor the family(including her being raped by someone, which isnt her fault).. its sickening....

Re: Women MUST banned together in order to prevent this from happening

Michele I could not agree with you more. We must make our voices heard in Washington. The only way to do that is to contact our US Senators and our US Congressmen and women and let them know how we feel. You can also let them know that you will be watching how they vote on anything regarding these countries, especially monetary aid, and that your continued support of them in election years depends on their vote.

Here is a site that will allow you to contact The President, Senators Clinton and Schmuer and the Congressperson for your area. Just put in your zip code and the info pops up. Please use this easy link to express your concerns.



US Government Contacts

Re: Women MUST banned together in order to prevent this from happening

I couldn't agree more, Michele. I've already contacted my Reps.

Thanks for posting this for everyone...