Rights groups denounce death by stoning

Human rights groups have called for Sudan to abolish death by stoning as prescribed legal punishment after a young woman convicted of adultery was ordered executed by a Sudanese court. The woman, Intisar Sharif Abdallah, who is married, gave birth five months ago and is being held, with her baby, outside Khartoum, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW). "No one should be stoned to death, and imposing this punishment on someone who may be a child is especially shocking," said Daniel Bekele, Africa director for Human Rights Watch. A statement by Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa, a women's rights group following the case, said Abdallah admitted guilt after she was beaten and tortured by her brother, who instigated the case against her. The conviction is based solely on her admission under duress, according to rights groups. Amnesty International, gave her age as 20 while HRW said she was 18. The case has received almost no coverage in Sudanese media. Abdallah was sentenced under a penal code provision which calls for execution by stoning for married adulterers, while unmarried culprits are whipped, HRW said. It added that Sudan is one of only seven countries that have death by stoning as a punishment. “Sudanese judges have sentenced several women to death by stoning in recent years, but courts have overturned all the sentences on appeal,” an HRW statement said. “The vast majority of adultery cases and stoning sentences have been imposed on women, pointing to the disproportionate and unequal application of this law.” The court convicted Abdallah solely on the basis of her confession after a family member beat her, HRW said, adding she did not have a lawyer or interpreter in court even though Arabic is not her first language. Death by stoning is a penalty that violates international human rights standards, including prohibitions on torture and cruel and unusual treatment, and should be abolished, the watchdog said. “Sudan should uphold international and African standards,” said Bekele. “It should ban death by stoning and other corporal punishment, and revise laws that discriminate against women and girls.” Amnesty International reported similar details of Abdallah’s case, and said family members were appealing. “The death sentence was imposed in violation of international law standards, and an execution would violate both international and Sudanese law,” London-based Amnesty said. Sudan practices Islamic law, which also mandates whippings for running a brothel or for “indecent’ behavior. In 2009, journalist-turned-activist Lubna Hussein waged a campaign against the law after she spent a day in jail for refusing to pay a fine for wearing “indecent trousers.” Other women arrested with her in a restaurant were whipped.