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Contact: Michelle Park, Executive Director (312) 988-6186; parkm@nawl.org

Amina Lawal Acquittal Far From Satisfactory

Chicago, IL, October 2, 2003

Letter from NAWL President Zoe Sanders Nettles to Ambassador Jibbril Muhammad Aminu regarding the acquittal of Amina Lawal, which was based on technicalities in Shariah law rather than addressing the fundamental problem of gender discrimination in Nigeria.

Ambassador Jibbril Muhammad Aminu
Embassy of Nigeria
1333 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20036

Re: Amina Lawal Acquittal

Your Excellency;

The National Association of Women Lawyers, the oldest association of women lawyers and jurists in the United States, noted with appreciation the acquittal of Amina Lawal. We feel that the court's ruling resulted in justice for Ms. Lawal and her child. We would, at the same time, like to bring your attention a number of concerns.

It appears that the acquittal in this case was based on technical violations of Shariah law. The court did not address either the issue of the cruelty of the previously imposed punishment of death by stoning, not the gender discrimination inherent in this case. This leads us to fear that other women may face death by stoning for the act of bearing a child out of wedlock. The UN Convention Against Torture and other Cruel Inhumane and Degrading Treatment, as well as the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, both of which have been ratified by Nigeria, prohibit cruel punishments such as the stoning to death. In fact, few, if any, punishments can be considered to be crueler than that. Further, to use pregnancy as evidence of a crime and to impose punishment based on pregnancy violates the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women as such conduct inherently discriminates against women.

We therefore hope that the Nigerian legislature and judiciary will review the laws in effect in Nigeria and revise them so they come into compliance with the international obligations which Nigeria has voluntarily undertaken. If we can be of any technical assistance in this regard, please feel free to call on us.

Respectfully Yours,
Zoe Sanders Nettles
President