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Nigerian Mother Faces Death Penalty for Bearing Child Out of Wedlock

Aired June 05, 2002 - 14:07   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: And another human rights controversy is unfolding in Nigeria.

An unmarried woman who has been sentenced to death for bearing a child is appealing that judgment. Under Nigeria's Sharia law, she would be buried to her neck and stoned to death.

CNN's Lagos bureau chief Jeff Koinange has her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KOINANGE (voice-over): Meet northern Nigeria's latest member of death row: 29-year-old Amina Lawal, divorced mother of four.

The baby she's nursing is the evidence that led to her death sentence.

Lawal has been accused of having baby Nasara (ph) out of wedlock. She admits that, but insists the baby's father had promised to marry her, only to back down at the last minute.

Now she's been forced to return to her father's rural village, where curious villagers flock to see the disgraced woman, adding to her high blood pressure and growing ulcers.

"I feel so humiliated at the way these people treat me," she says. "It's like I've done something wrong."

Under what legal system would adultery mean death? Sharia, now practiced in 12 of Nigeria's 36 states, and beginning to take a new, more extreme form ahead of elections next year.

Human-rights activists accuse Nigeria's Muslim clerics of politicizing Sharia, targeting women and sparing the men.

RUMATU UMARU, ACTIVIST, HUMAN RIGHTS LAW GROUP: Ever since the Sharia system started, the main focus has generally been on women. And I think it's very unfair, like in this issue, where adultery is the case. Why is it always only the women that get punished? There's this saying that it takes two to tango.

KOINANGE: Appeal day, and Lawal's lawyers convene to argue her conviction. The accused sits quietly in the back, carrying her infant child.

The makeshift courtroom is filled to capacity. Only men are allowed inside the Sharia courts.

Lawal is summoned in front of the panel. She's not allowed to speak in her defense. All she can do is try to calm her child.

After opening arguments are made, the judge quickly adjourns the court, and sets a new appeal date, July 8.

Lawal has won another month of freedom. Her lawyer is hopeful justice will prevail in the end.

ALIYU MUSA, ATTORNEY FOR LAWAL: I am of the view that our judges are not well-versed in the procedures of now, so it's not likely, I don't believe that -- I don't think that in the near future we will witness the execution of any judgment.

KOINANGE: But for the accused it's another month of agony, awaiting her fate and regretting the very reason that brought her here.

(on camera): In a state where Sharia has been responsible for countless amputations, and where only just last week yet another woman was sentenced to death for adultery, Amina Lawal is fearful that hers might be used as the test case for execution by stoning, setting the stage for what many people here are calling a dangerous precedent.

Jeff Koinange, CNN, Funtua, in northern Nigeria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LIN: Just a few minutes ago, Jeff Koinange brought us the compelling story of woman in Nigeria who may face a penalty of being stoned to death for bearing a child out of wedlock.

Human rights activists are watching this case very closely, and joining us right now is Carina Tertsakian. She is with the Human Rights Watch, and she joins us live now from London.

Carina, you're familiar with this case, aren't you?

CARINA TERTSAKIAN, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: Yes, we have been following this case as well as other cases of people who have been sentenced to death in various states in northern Nigeria.

There was a case a few months ago of another woman who was sentenced to death for adultery, and at the level of the court of appeal, the sentence was commuted, so she has been let off. But this second case is still of great concern to us.

There are also other cases of people who have been sentenced to death or other cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments under Sharia law, which is applied in a number of states in northern Nigeria. LIN: Carina, what is the basis for this sentencing?

TERTSAKIAN: Well, Sharia Islamic law has been introduced in about a dozen states in northern Nigeria to cover criminal cases over the last couple of years.

Previously -- it already existed, and for many years in Nigeria, but applied only to personal or civil cases. So the extension to criminal cases is a recent development that has been introduced by a number of governors in the northern states of Nigeria.

And, unfortunately women have been...

LIN: Why is -- go ahead, I think you're about to make the point. Go ahead.

TERTSAKIAN: Well, I was just going to add that the way in which it has been applied has been arbitrary and often discriminatory against woman.

There have been several cases, like the one that you mentioned, where women have been particularly targeted by these very harsh sentences.

LIN: So, what's going to save this woman?

TERTSAKIAN: Well, at this stage it's very hard to tell.

In the other case that I mentioned, the charges were dropped. She was acquitted in the end. But there's nothing to say that the outcome is going to be positive in this case.

It's in a different state of Nigeria, and the political context is very sensitive at the moment. There are elections coming up in Nigeria next year. And the issue of Sharia, the Islamic law, has often been used in a political way in its application in the northern states, so it's very difficult to tell what the outcome will be.

LIN: How much influence can groups like yours have in a case like this?

TERTSAKIAN: Well, what we noticed in the earlier case is that the huge campaign that was mounted by not only ourselves but many other human rights organizations, including many within Nigeria, was actually quite successful in raising awareness generally, and even putting pressure on the government at the federal level to take the issue seriously.

The minister of justice himself acknowledged that he was under pressure at the international level and wrote a letter to the governors of the state which apply Sharia, asking them to review this law on the basis that it was unconstitutional.

So what is crucial is to keep up the pressure, not only for such sentences to be commuted, but also for due process to be observed in the trials. What we've noticed is that in many of these cases, people don't even have access to a defense lawyer. The judges themselves are often very poorly trained. So it's not only the question of the punishment, it's also the whole issue of the fairness of the trials and the due process, which is often not observed.

LIN: All right. Well, time may be running out for this woman, so we wish you the best of luck in this case. Carina Tertsakian, with Human Rights Watch, out of London, thank you.

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