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Lagos - Nigerian human rights groups on Thursday criticised as "dehumanising" an Islamic court's sentence of 180 lashes of the whip against a 17-year-old girl found guilty of premarital sex.
The court at Isafe in northern Nigeria's Zamfara State found the girl Bariya Ibrahim Magazu guilty last week under Islamic law of engaging in sex before marriage.
The girl was reported by the police in July as being pregnant despite being unmarried. Asked by the court, in her remote northern village, she named three middle-aged men as being the possible father, saying that all three had paid her to have sex with them, adding that it had been against her wishes.
As a result, she was sentenced to be flogged 40 days after she gives birth, which is expected shortly.
'A disrespect to human dignity'
Danladi Plang, a spokesperson for the group Human Rights Monitor, said the sentence was "dehumanising" and could put the girl's life in danger.
Such sentences, he said, were "not only against the country's constitution, which guarantees fundamental human rights of individuals, but also against international conventions on human rights".
"Giving a poor girl 180 lashes is very dehumanising and a disrespect to human dignity," he said. Few people could withstand such a punishment, he said.
A spokesperson for the group known as the Constitutional Rights Project said the sentence was "a violation of her fundamental human rights".
"President (Olusegun) Obasanjo should wake up and stop this," he said.
'Obasanjo should wake up and stop this'
Since Nigeria returned to civilian rule last year, eight northern states have introduced or declared plans to introduce the Islamic code known as the sharia.
Zamfara was the first state to introduce the Islamic law system and has been the most active in prosecuting the code.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, a Christian, said earlier this year that he believes that punishments prescribed by the Sharia, including public floggings for premarital sex, violate the constitution and are an infringement of human rights.
He has advised the victims to take the matter up with the Nigerian Supreme Court. - Sapa-AFP
The court at Isafe in northern Nigeria's Zamfara State found the girl Bariya Ibrahim Magazu guilty last week under Islamic law of engaging in sex before marriage.
The girl was reported by the police in July as being pregnant despite being unmarried. Asked by the court, in her remote northern village, she named three middle-aged men as being the possible father, saying that all three had paid her to have sex with them, adding that it had been against her wishes.
As a result, she was sentenced to be flogged 40 days after she gives birth, which is expected shortly.
'A disrespect to human dignity'
Danladi Plang, a spokesperson for the group Human Rights Monitor, said the sentence was "dehumanising" and could put the girl's life in danger.
Such sentences, he said, were "not only against the country's constitution, which guarantees fundamental human rights of individuals, but also against international conventions on human rights".
"Giving a poor girl 180 lashes is very dehumanising and a disrespect to human dignity," he said. Few people could withstand such a punishment, he said.
A spokesperson for the group known as the Constitutional Rights Project said the sentence was "a violation of her fundamental human rights".
"President (Olusegun) Obasanjo should wake up and stop this," he said.
'Obasanjo should wake up and stop this'
Since Nigeria returned to civilian rule last year, eight northern states have introduced or declared plans to introduce the Islamic code known as the sharia.
Zamfara was the first state to introduce the Islamic law system and has been the most active in prosecuting the code.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, a Christian, said earlier this year that he believes that punishments prescribed by the Sharia, including public floggings for premarital sex, violate the constitution and are an infringement of human rights.
He has advised the victims to take the matter up with the Nigerian Supreme Court. - Sapa-AFP
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