That is OK.  Sorry, I already posted a reply.  Just ignore it...
Ginny

----- Original Message -----
From: "Elow Wole" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2000 2:29 PM
Subject: Re: Fwd: Nigerian court sentences unmarried pregnant girl to caning


> Ginny, please ignore my previous posting.  I missed the baby part.
>
> Regards
> Essa
>
>
>
>
> >From: Ginny Quick <[log in to unmask]>
> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
> ><[log in to unmask]>
> >To: [log in to unmask]
> >Subject: Re: Fwd: Nigerian court sentences unmarried pregnant girl to
> >        caning
> >Date: Sun, 17 Sep 2000 15:08:06 -0500
> >
> >Hello, I have a question about this story.  Hopefully, someone can help
me
> >answer it.  My question is not so much whether or not the sharia law
should
> >be enacted and used.  What I want to know is, where is the father of this
> >girl's baby?  I mean, she couldn't have gotten pregnant all by herself.
> >Would he suffer the same punishment as she is going to have to?
> >      I just wanted to know because there was no mention of the father in
> >this case, and shouldn't he be as guilty as the girl is?
> >Ginny
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "MOMODOU BUHARRY GASSAMA" <[log in to unmask]>
> >To: <[log in to unmask]>
> >Sent: Sunday, September 17, 2000 2:16 PM
> >Subject: Fwd: Nigerian court sentences unmarried pregnant girl to caning
> >
> >
> >Nigerian court sentences unmarried pregnant girl to caning
> >September 15, 2000
> >Web posted at: 11:30 PM EDT (0330 GMT)
> >
> >
> >GUSAU, Nigeria (Reuters) -- A pregnant teenage girl has been sentenced to
> >180 strokes of the cane by a Muslim sharia court in northern Nigeria,
> >officials said Friday.
> >
> >Human rights activists have reacted angrily to the sentencing of
> >17-year-old
> >Bariya Magazu after a trial likely to fuel controversy over the
> >introduction
> >of the strict sharia penal code in parts of northern Nigeria.
> >
> >Separately, Roman Catholic bishops of Nigeria issued a statement calling
on
> >President Olusegun Obasanjo "to address the sharia issue with the
> >seriousness and sense of urgency that it deserves."
> >
> >The court in Zamfara state, the first of Nigeria's regional governments
to
> >proclaim sharia law, tried Magazu on charges of having had pre-marital
sex.
> >
> >Multi-ethnic Nigeria has been sharply divided over sharia since late last
> >year when Zamfara embraced it. Hundreds of people died in two bouts of
> >Christian-Muslim bloodletting over plans to introduce it in neighboring
> >Kaduna state earlier this year.
> >
> >Non-Muslims oppose sharia for its tough sanctions, such as stoning for
> >adultery and amputation of hands for theft.
> >
> >Zamfara officials said the court in the state capital Gusau had earlier
> >this
> >week found Magazu, who is several months pregnant and being looked after
by
> >her parents, guilty of having sex illegally.
> >
> >"The court sentenced her to 180 strokes of the cane, and she will be
> >publicly flogged 40 days after she puts to bed (gives birth)," an
official
> >told Reuters.
> >
> >Rights groups described the sentence as barbaric and a violation of the
> >girl's fundamental human rights.
> >
> >"It's shocking and really very embarrassing. It is baffling why the
Zamfara
> >government would go ahead to enforce sharia to the extent of having to
give
> >a small girl 180 strokes of the cane," said Samson Bako of the
> >Constitutional Rights Project.
> >
> >Bako said a coalition of rights groups would consider court action
against
> >the central government if it failed to stop the spread of sharia in the
> >country.
> >
> >Despite opposition, sharia appears popular in the predominantly Islamic
> >north where some half a dozen states have adopted it or are about to do
so.
> >
> >In their statement issued Friday after a five-day meeting in Kaduna, the
> >bishops said their original fear that non-Muslims would suffer under a
> >sharia regime had been justified.
> >
> >"The reality on the ground in states that have adopted sharia shows that
> >non-Muslims are being negatively and unjustly affected," the statement
> >said.
> >
> >In many cases Christian bodies were denied land on which to build places
of
> >worship, it said.
> >
> >While reaffirming their faith in a unified Nigeria, the bishops said they
> >believed Nigeria's constitution needed to be reviewed to reassure people
of
> >all faiths.
> >
> >"There should no longer be room for special provisions for any religion
> >within our constitution," their statement added.
> >
>
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