October 20, 2003
Nigeria: Debunking Misconceptions on Stoning Case
Amina Lawal and her child wait in Katsina Court in northern Nigeria. © 2003 Reuters Limited In the days leading up to the appeal court judgment in the case against Amina Lawal, Human Rights Watch received a barrage of phone calls. From around the world came a huge wave of sympathy for the Nigerian woman who had been found guilty of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning. When she won her appeal on September 25, there was a collective sigh of relief--and another stream of requests for Human Rights Watch to comment on the verdict.
Human Rights Watch researcher Carina Tertsakian had just returned from a mission to states in northern Nigeria where Sharia (Islamic law) had been extended to cover criminal offenses. Tertsakian knew the issues cold, but she also knew that many reporters were chasing the wrong story.
“Amina Lawal’s case deserves attention, and we are delighted at the outcome of her appeal, but hers is not the only case, nor is the punishment of stoning the only human rights problem in Nigeria,” says Tertsakian, who has worked at Human Rights Watch since 2001. “Much of the Western media has oversimplified the issue by focusing exclusively on this type of punishment under Sharia.”
The more fundamental human rights issue in Nigeria is the dysfunctional justice system, Tertsakian noted. She also describes how dysfunction lies at the heart of how Islamic law is being practiced too. Amina Lawal, for example, was convicted in a trial that was seriously flawed and did not follow due process, even under the Sharia legislation. She was not aware of her rights and did not even have a defense lawyer until the appeal stage
Tertsakian’s reports for Human Rights Watch have highlighted the absence of justice that underlies Nigeria’s many human rights problems. Impunity for perpetrators of human rights violations and the inability of victims to obtain redress are the common threads linking problems as diverse as killings by the security forces, vigilante violence, and ethnic and religious conflicts.
Amina Lawal’s case has helped raise awareness of the parlous state of Nigeria’s justice system, but these other human rights problems, which have claimed several thousand lives since 1999, are crying out for the same level of attention.
Tertsakian, 41, formerly worked at Amnesty International as a researcher on Rwanda and the Great Lakes region. She works out of Human Rights Watch’s London office. Her next report will focus on violations of freedom of expression in Nigeria. She is also working on Human Rights Watch’s first substantial report on human rights in the context of Sharia in northern Nigeria. keralamonitor.com
Mexico: Increased international scrutiny for violence against women in Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua
On the eve of the hearing at the Inter American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) in Washington, Amnesty International is urging the Mexican authorities to make its commitments count three months after the announcement of the 40 point action plan to end the abduction and murder of women in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua.
The hearing, taking place on Monday 20th October, will be focused on the situation of women in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua. Representatives of both the federal and the state Mexican authorities will take part in the hearing as well as Amnesty International, represented by Yanette Bautista, alongside relatives of the victims and Mexican non-governmental organizations.
The central objective of the human rights organizations will be to urge the effective implementation of the IACHR's own recommendations made in March 2003 by the Special Rapporteur on Women's Rights in her report on violence against women in Ciudad Juarez.
"There have been a number of positive steps since the publication in August of Amnesty International's report "Intolerable Killings: Ten years of abductions and murders of women in Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua". Amnesty International said "However, there's still a long way to go to ensure justice for the victims and their relatives and to enable the women of Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua to have confidence in the judicial system."
In late August President Fox announced the creation of a Commissioner to oversee the implementation of the government initiatives in Juarez. However, the mandate and powers of such a post remain unclear. It is also vital that whoever is finally named in the post has a strong independent track record in the area of women's rights and gender violence.
The recent visit by United Nations expert delegates to analyse flaws in investigative procedures in Ciudad Juarez also highlighted the grave failings in the administration of justice and may contribute to the development of new guidelines for such investigations.
"It is vital that these guidelines are drawn up in consultation with experts on gender violence, human rights organizations and relatives of victims." Amnesty International said.
Amnesty International looks forward to the publication of the government's awaited report evaluating the implementation of the action plan to assess evidence of progress in resolving the terrible crimes of Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua.
The organization believes that it is essential that federal authorities make themselves ultimately accountable for prevention and investigation of such crimes against women in Chihuahua state; that an independent mechanism is established to review the cases handled by the Chihuahua Public Prosecutors Office where there are allegations of abuses of due process, such as the use of torture; that the families of the victims are not only treated with respect and dignity in their struggle for justice, but that they are fully included in the implementation of all judicial and preventive measures.
Background
Amnesty International will be participating in the hearing alongside with the Mexican Commission for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights (Comision Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos) and the Stop Impunity Campaign (Campaña Alto a la Impunidad).
Last weekend's visit by 4 members of the US House of Representatives and international human rights organizations, including a representative of Amnesty International, to Ciudad Juarez highlights the importance of the case and interest of the international community in seeing the end of pattern of abuses against women. keralamonitor.com
UNITED STATES: URGING FOR CLEAN NEEDLES AGAINST HIV
The "war on drugs" is having a terrible impact on HIV prevention in the United States. Human Rights Watch researchers Jonathan Cohen and Rebecca Schleifer released a hard-hitting report on September 9, documenting how California laws restricting access to clean syringes hinder efforts to prevent HIV transmission.
Needle exchange programs, which provide sterile syringes to injection drug users, have been proven to reduce HIV transmission without increasing drug use. Yet in California and other states, needle exchanges are banned in many counties. Even where needle exchanges operate freely, sterile syringes are considered "drug paraphernalia" under state law in California. Thus many drug users shy away from needle exchange programs, fearing arrest for possession of syringes.
Last month Human Rights Watch met with Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy Baca, who agreed to start a working group aimed at reducing police interference with needle exchanges. Oakland's chief of narcotics enforcement, Benson Fairow, agreed to take steps to do the same. Meanwhile the California State Office on AIDS is organizing a statewide conference on needle exchange and plans to draw on the findings of the Human Rights Watch report in the meeting. -keralamonitor.com
