Please read this! You can help this woman!

[BlueMoose]

A woman on another message board posted this. It's been bothering me all day.......


I'm posting this because as women we maybe can try to help another. In Nigeria, there is a woman by the name of Amina Lawal...she is going to be STONED to death because she had a child out of wedlock. The child is now just about a year and as soon as the baby stops breast feeding Amina will be stoned...buried up to her shoulders and then stoned to death...which can take up to 4HRS. She is also the mother of, 3 or 4 other children.
Up until about 100 years ago Women here, in the USA suffered our own troubles, no freedom of speech, could not vote...But we are so lucky that we now live in a country where we are blessed with education, a voice and rights. We are treated as equals in this country than most of our sisters in other countries.
To help...please go to this site...a simple email will help her.
http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/tows_2002/tows_past_20021004.jhtml

[kima]

Thank you for posting this Chrisi. I saw that Oprah and was already aware of the situation from the papers here but I forgot to sign the petition. I hope everyone in our community takes a minute to send the letter. It is the least we can do.
I just can't believe how women are treated in some parts of the world. It s very sad and a stark reminder of how fortunate we are .

[SandyM]

Chrisi,

Thanks for the heads up. I saw only part of the Oprah show on Friday, and I seriously thought the "stoning" took place already, because I heard Oprah say something about the fact that she (or someone) was buried up to her neck in rocks and couldn't move one way or another.

Glad to know we can try to help this woman. The President/Governor/Leader of Nigeria disagrees with the sentence (per Oprah), but he still has done nothing to stop it.

Lets all do what we can for her (and other women) living in these conditions. Adultery is not a good thing, but for goodness sake, but lets put our priorities (and theirs) in the proper place.

Thank you again, Chrisi.

[JJ40]

Thank you, BlueMoose. Unfortunately I don't have cable at the moment so I missed that show. I am grateful you posted the link so I can send an email of support for Amina.

It absolutely stuns me that women are treated this way. I don't think ANYONE should be sentenced to die for adultery, but it enrages me that it is only women that are being punished. Unbelievable.

Makes me grateful to live in Canada.

Julie

[Robyncz]

Thank you, Chrisi. I meant to do this yesterday, but I forgot. Can you imagine living in a place where that could actually happen? For all our complaining, we are so fortunate to live in the place and time we do. . .

[Wendy w]

Thank you for posting this Chrisi. I have been reading about this for a long time and it burns me up that such antiquated backward inhumane customs still exist. I wasn't home to see Oprah on Friday and I didn't know that the petition existed. I just signed it.

[HejazSunKat]

Chrisi - thanks for posting this. I tried to add my name to the letter but got one of those lovely DNS errors so I'm not sure if it went through. What a sad and horrible situation. Sharia is the law here in KSA also. Knowing what I do about the rights or lack thereof for women in this country under Sharia and ultra-conservative Wahabbi Islam I'm not surprised by her situation. I'd be willing to bet Amina ended up pregnant because she was forcibly raped by a clan or family member and now family 'honor' has to be restored by making her pay for it. Hopefully enough of an international outcry can be raised over this case to save her life.

[BlueMoose]

If you have trouble signing it, keep trying. Mine wouldn't go through at first, either. I think all of the "Oprah people" are overloading the website or something (which is a good thing!).

[lindrusso]

Thanks Chrisi!

[BlueMoose]

bump

[LisaSch]

Hi all, I was very happy to read this AP report filed on September 18th. I hope it is still correct in what it says. If anyone has any more recent information, it would be very good to hear.


Ibrahim Abdullahi, spokesman for the governor of the northern Katsina state where Lawal was sentenced, said she could avoid imposition of the sentence by simply not showing up for her next court appeal.

He said that Islamic law gives Lawal the choice of being able to "walk away" from the judgment.

In a statement Tuesday, Nigeria's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Dubem Onyia, said the federal government would work to ensure that Lawal remains unharmed.

[BlueMoose]

Thanks for posting that Lisa. I hope it's true...it helps to put my mind at ease.

[SandyM]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2003-09-25-niger-stoning_x.htm

[MrsReber]

Yes!! I saw this on CNN and was so very happy! That baby needs her mommy!


:) :) :) :)

[tamawrite]

Oh, what a relief to read that she's safe.

Did you go look at her photo? She's lovely!

[Lucinda]

I was so happy to hear Amina Lawal was released. The thing that bothered me, though, was the reasoning for her release was that she was impregnated before shari'a was implemented. That was the reasoning! Not that it was a wrong verdict or incorrect reasoning. It was purely about the timing!:mad: :mad: And the fact that her partner just said he wasn't involved and he was set free! But nevertheless, I was happy to hear of her release.