Protest at human rights abuse in Nigeria

BY ANDREW HALL

CANBERRA — On January 24, the Australian Refugee Alliance and Amnesty International organised a protest of 80 people outraged at the treatment suffered of Bariya Ibrahim Magazu at the hands of the Nigerian government.

The 17-year-old women was the victim of sexual abuse and as a result was sentenced to receive a lashing after being convicted under Islamic (sharia) law for crimes relating to sexual immorality. The sentence was reduced to 100 lashes after her appeal showed that 90 lashes was normally enough to kill.

Bariya was charged because, with her seven witnesses, she dared to attempt to have the men responsible prosecuted, therefore "admitting" to having pre-marital sex.

The main organiser of the protest, Olivia McOrmond from ARA, called for an immediate and unconditional pardon for Bariya, for Nigeria to abolish corporal punishment and for an assurance that women will be treated equitably under Islamic law. She also "strongly condemned any system, not just sharia law, that discriminates against the equal treatment of women."

From GLW issue 434