US embassy cable - 04ABUJA1831

UNCLAS ABUJA 001831 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, KIRF, PGOV, PREL, NI 
SUBJECT:  IN BAUCHI STATE, TWO MORE WOMEN SENTENCED TO 
DEATH BY STONING FOR ADULTERY 
 
 
1.  Summary.  Bauchi State Shari's courts sentenced two 
unmarried women to death by stoning for adultery on the 
evidence of their pregnancies, while releasing their 
partners for lack of evidence.  Both women have 
appealed and are receiving legal assistance.  Since the 
adoption in 2000 of Shari'a in 12 states in northern 
Nigeria, no women have yet been stoned to death.  End 
Summary. 
 
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Hajara Ibrahim, 18 and pregnant 
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1.  On October 5 in Lere Local Government Area (LGA) of 
Bauchi State, 18-year-old Hajara Ibrahim was sentenced 
to death by stoning for adultery after becoming 
pregnant outside of wedlock.  According to the Shari'a 
court that convicted her, she confessed to having sex 
with Dauda Sani, a boy who she said had promised to 
marry her.  He denied ever meeting her and was released 
for lack of evidence, but the court deemed her 
pregnancy and confession sufficient to convict her of 
adultery. 
 
2.  Ibrahim appealed the sentence, stating that she was 
not married.  A year earlier, her parents had arranged 
a marriage for her with a man in Lafia, Nassarawa 
State, but she never moved to Lafia to join him.  Since 
she had never consummated the marriage, her lawyers 
argue, she should not have been charged adultery, but 
with the lesser crime of fornication, which would carry 
a lighter sentence:  a maximum of 100 lashes with a 
cane. 
 
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Daso Adamu, a 25-year-old single mother 
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3.  On September 15 in Ningi LGA of Bauchi State, twice- 
married Daso Adamu was sentenced to death by stoning 
for adultery after admitting to having sex 12 times 
with another man, resulting in her pregnancy, after her 
second husband left her.  Her partner was actually her 
first husband, who denied all accusations and was freed 
by the Shari'a court for lack of evidence.  In October 
she was released on bail on grounds that because she 
was breastfeeding her child, who is now six months old, 
it was a violation of the baby's rights to keep them 
both imprisoned. 
 
4.  Adamu appealed her sentence on several procedural 
grounds, including (1) that the Shari'a court relied 
solely on her confession without eyewitness testimony, 
and (2) that no one had filed a case of adultery 
against her, so it was improper under Shari'a for the 
court to proceed with any action against her. 
 
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Next Steps 
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5.  Ibrahim's appeal began October 27, and Adamu's will 
be heard on November 3.  Both women are receiving legal 
assistance from a Lagos-based NGO, BAOBAB for Women's 
Human Rights. 
 
6.  In principle, stoning sentences would be carried 
out after the women's children are weaned, so there is 
time for the appeals to proceed through the courts.  In 
addition, Nigerian civil law requires state governors 
to ratify all Shari'a death sentences before they are 
carried out.  Since the adoption in 2000 of Shari'a in 
12 states in northern Nigeria, there have been several 
high-profile death sentences, but no women yet have 
been stoned to death. 
 
CAMPBELL