Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja and Justice Minister Johannes Koskinen condemn Nigerian stoning sentence

The sentence to death by stoning passed on Amina Lawal Kuram in Northern Nigeria for having a child out of wedlock is in flagrant breach of international human rights and especially with women’s rights, and as such is to be condemned. We appeal to Nigeria to respect its human rights obligations. The carrying out of the sentence must be withdrawn. The possibility to apply for a change of the sentence of death by stoning based on an interpretation of Sharia law must ultimately be guaranteed at the federal level. The sentence passed on Lawal Kuram must be reversed as soon as possible.

Finland does not accept the use of death penalty under any circumstances. The sentences to death by stoning that have been passed recently in North Nigeria are based on discrimination and their implementation is inhuman, and as such they are particularly flagrant in terms of human rights. People in Finland and elsewhere have reacted strongly against the verdicts handed out to women in North Nigeria. This shows that there should be no place at all for such punishments that trample on human rights. Nigeria is party to many international human rights treaties that are binding in nature.

The European Union condemns death by stoning sentences and is deeply concerned by these recent judgements. The EU’s general aim is to prohibit the death penalty throughout the whole world.

In the northern states of Nigeria Sharia law is in use, which can be used to pass sentences to death by stoning. The issue of whether or not the Sharia law is in accordance with the constitution has become a strongly political question. Nigeria’s constitutional law of 1999 allows for different interpretations of the relationship between Sharia law and the country’s constitution. So far the federal court has not ruled on any actions brought before it that would have resolved the issue.