Nigeria: Will Hajara Ibrahim be stoned to death?
Local Sharia courts in Bauchi state in Northern Nigeria
have recently sentenced two young women to death by
stoning for alleged adultery. Hajara Ibrahim and Daso
Adamu are waiting for the appeal courts to decide their
fates. In Hajara's case, the appeal hearing in the Upper
Sharia Court in Dass was opened on 27 October. Her lawyer
argued that the ruling of the local court had serious
legal and formal mistakes. Now the upper court is
expected to give its verdict on 10 November. If it fails
to quash the stoning sentence, there will be only few
chances for Hajara to escape a barbaric death.
Hajara Ibrahim (18) was convicted by a Sharia court in
Lere in Tafa Balawi area on 5 October as she was seven
months pregnant from a man to whom she was not married.
The 25-year-old student, whom she named as her lover and
husband-to-be denied his involvement and was acquitted
for lack of evidence. The court did not even consider a
paternity test. Sharia laws are not the same for men and
women. To convict a man for adultery, there have to be
four reputed witnesses of the deed. In case of a woman,
pregnancy is taken as sufficient evidence for her guilt.
The judge gave Hajara time to deliver before execution.
Her family appealed against the verdict.
Her lawyer Abdulkadi Suleiman argued that Hajara could
not be convicted for adultery, as she had never been
actually married. As a school girl in fourth standard,
she had - against her own and her mother's wishes - been
given by her adoptive father to a stranger for marriage.
But before the marriage had been performed and before the
man could touch her, she got scared and absconded. As an
unmarried girl, she could be convicted for fornication
only, which carries lesser punishment. The first court
committed also a grave procedural mistake by not
allowing the accused to make a statement before the
judgement was finalized. Moreover Hajara was convicted in
a case, in which she was not a party at all. Originally
the case had been filed by her father against the student
who allegedly impregnated her. Hajara had been a witness
in this case, not the accused.
In case the upper court confirms the stoning sentence on
10 November, Hajara's life can only be rescued by
intervention of the federal government. Every death
sentence in Nigeria needs the final seal of the state
governor.
In a similar case, Daso Adamu (25) was sentenced to death
by stoning on 15 September. The judge found the
twice-divorced woman guilty of adultery, as she had
delivered a child, which was conceived after her second
divorce. She insists that her last ex-husbands is the
father, but the man denies. Daso was imprisoned together
with her six-month-old baby. Weeks after her appeal, the
appeal court granted her bail. The trial had been
adjourned till 3 November.
Hajara Ibrahim and Daso Adamu are two out of five known
cases in the state, in which women have been sentenced to
death by stoning during the recent years. Yunusa
Rafin-Chiyawa (35) was the first man sentenced to
stoning. He is on the death row since June 2002, when he
was convicted for allegedly having a sexual relation with
the wife of a friend. There may be more cases. Sharia
sentences go often unreported, as they are handed down in
small courts in remote areas and the local media keep
silent about them. So far, no execution by stoning has
taken place. Several stoning judgements have been
overturned in the appellate court due to immense
international pressure. In 2002, the cases of Safiyatu
Husseini in Sokoto state and Amina Lawal in Katsina state
have been reported all around the world and unleashed a
storm of protest. [See reports in Bulletin # 88, # 93 and
# 102.]
Since Nigeria's return to civil rule in 1999, twelve
predominantly Muslim states in the North of the country
adopted Islamic Criminal Law. In the process, communal
clashes erupted in many parts of the country and
thousands were killed. Sharia punishments like flogging,
amputating arms or legs, stoning to death etc. are not
only barbarian and inhuman, they are also violating the
constitution of Nigeria as well as several international
human rights.
Local Sharia courts in Bauchi state in Northern Nigeria
have recently sentenced two young women to death by
stoning for alleged adultery. Hajara Ibrahim and Daso
Adamu are waiting for the appeal courts to decide their
fates. In Hajara's case, the appeal hearing in the Upper
Sharia Court in Dass was opened on 27 October. Her lawyer
argued that the ruling of the local court had serious
legal and formal mistakes. Now the upper court is
expected to give its verdict on 10 November. If it fails
to quash the stoning sentence, there will be only few
chances for Hajara to escape a barbaric death.
Hajara Ibrahim (18) was convicted by a Sharia court in
Lere in Tafa Balawi area on 5 October as she was seven
months pregnant from a man to whom she was not married.
The 25-year-old student, whom she named as her lover and
husband-to-be denied his involvement and was acquitted
for lack of evidence. The court did not even consider a
paternity test. Sharia laws are not the same for men and
women. To convict a man for adultery, there have to be
four reputed witnesses of the deed. In case of a woman,
pregnancy is taken as sufficient evidence for her guilt.
The judge gave Hajara time to deliver before execution.
Her family appealed against the verdict.
Her lawyer Abdulkadi Suleiman argued that Hajara could
not be convicted for adultery, as she had never been
actually married. As a school girl in fourth standard,
she had - against her own and her mother's wishes - been
given by her adoptive father to a stranger for marriage.
But before the marriage had been performed and before the
man could touch her, she got scared and absconded. As an
unmarried girl, she could be convicted for fornication
only, which carries lesser punishment. The first court
committed also a grave procedural mistake by not
allowing the accused to make a statement before the
judgement was finalized. Moreover Hajara was convicted in
a case, in which she was not a party at all. Originally
the case had been filed by her father against the student
who allegedly impregnated her. Hajara had been a witness
in this case, not the accused.
In case the upper court confirms the stoning sentence on
10 November, Hajara's life can only be rescued by
intervention of the federal government. Every death
sentence in Nigeria needs the final seal of the state
governor.
In a similar case, Daso Adamu (25) was sentenced to death
by stoning on 15 September. The judge found the
twice-divorced woman guilty of adultery, as she had
delivered a child, which was conceived after her second
divorce. She insists that her last ex-husbands is the
father, but the man denies. Daso was imprisoned together
with her six-month-old baby. Weeks after her appeal, the
appeal court granted her bail. The trial had been
adjourned till 3 November.
Hajara Ibrahim and Daso Adamu are two out of five known
cases in the state, in which women have been sentenced to
death by stoning during the recent years. Yunusa
Rafin-Chiyawa (35) was the first man sentenced to
stoning. He is on the death row since June 2002, when he
was convicted for allegedly having a sexual relation with
the wife of a friend. There may be more cases. Sharia
sentences go often unreported, as they are handed down in
small courts in remote areas and the local media keep
silent about them. So far, no execution by stoning has
taken place. Several stoning judgements have been
overturned in the appellate court due to immense
international pressure. In 2002, the cases of Safiyatu
Husseini in Sokoto state and Amina Lawal in Katsina state
have been reported all around the world and unleashed a
storm of protest. [See reports in Bulletin # 88, # 93 and
# 102.]
Since Nigeria's return to civil rule in 1999, twelve
predominantly Muslim states in the North of the country
adopted Islamic Criminal Law. In the process, communal
clashes erupted in many parts of the country and
thousands were killed. Sharia punishments like flogging,
amputating arms or legs, stoning to death etc. are not
only barbarian and inhuman, they are also violating the
constitution of Nigeria as well as several international
human rights.
Vastaukset 7
Vanhimmat
Bush ei kivitä, hän pommittaa. Samankaltaiset keinot on käytössä. Toisella vaan paljon tuhoisammat. Muuten samaa mieltä, kauhistuttavaa, jos kukaan ei puolusta naisia.
Royal Dutch Shell. Muuta ei tarvita.
Sharia on kiihkoislamilaisten laki. Miksi syyttää amerikkalaisia tai hollantilaisia, eiväthän he ole islaminuskoisia! Suomessakin ovat viranomaiset ryhtyneet sharian vuoksi tositoimiin: kun viimeksi oli tällainen kivitysuhka Nigeriassa, siellä järjestettiin samaan aikaan kauneuskilpailut, ja ulkoministeri Tuomioja neuvoi suomalaista missiä protestoimaan kivittämistä vastaan. Eivät nämä Suomen humanistit ole siis jouten, vaan ovat ryhtyneet raskaisiin diplomaattisiin toimenpiteisiin.
Nigeriassa on omanlaisensa laki pykälät ja niitä tulee kansan noudattaa , aivan kuten suomessa suomen lait .
Jos tuo on niin mainio laki, niin miksei samanlaista suomeenkin.
Suomessa voitaisi ensimmäiseksi, vaikka noin esimerkiksi muille, kivittää tämä Outi Koski.
Ehkäpä muut suomalaisnaiset ottaisivat opiksi.
Heillä on oma arvomaailmansa ja meillä oma. Tosin meidän arvomaailmammehan on kehityksen huipentuma eli täydellisistä täydellisin.