letters

I thank you and all the friends at off our backs for their individuals and collective efforts toward our rogramme to end discrimination base on sexual orientation in Nigeria and for the recognition of women human rights.

Thank you also for the article on UMANI defender, and the alert on Fatima Usman. Victory will surely come if we persevere; if we find strong courage to speak out openly what we say privately in conferences and seminas; if we put fear aside and ask our Government to respect the International Conventions and Covernants, some of which the Government has ratified but pay lip services to their implementation. My worry here is that most of our women are keeping quiet in the face of even violation of their Human rights. Yet the struggle must go on.

Let me share with you the joy of this week: Amina Lawal was discharged and acquitted on Thursday, 25th September, 2003. The Sharia Appeal Court, in a split judgement of four to one ruled that the Lower and Upper Sharia courts coviction on Amina was invalid because she was pregnant already when the Sharia law came into effect in the state.

Although I wish to send you an article on this, let me thank you for all the support during the time which the search for justice lasted in this case.

We are still searching for fund to enable us move our zonal office to Zaria. It is realy hard, but we are hopeful.

Keep fit and remain bless.

Best Regards,

Sarah Bassey

Note from oob:

Amina Lawal was sentenced to death by stoning for reportedly having a child after she divorced, which is tantamount to adultery under the new Sharia-based penal code. In November 2002, The Oprah Winfrey Show publicly joined with Amnesty International to encourage one million messages be sent to the Nigerian government in protest of Amina's sentence. 1.2 million messages were sent.

After Amina's sentence was overturned in September 2003, Curt Goering of Amnesty International USA said, "We congratulate the millions of activists in Nigeria and around the world who voiced their opposition to such cruel and unusual punishment. This verdict is a reaffirmation of the power of a grassroots movement."