From Reuters:
“Nigerian
Islamic court orders death by stoning for men convicted of homosexuality”
An Islamic
sharia court in Nigeria's northern state of Bauchi has sentenced three men to
death by stoning after convicting them on charges of engaging in homosexuality,
the leader of the religious police that arrested them said on Friday. Northern
Nigeria is predominantly Muslim and the states in the region use sharia courts
to punish residents for crimes ranging from adultery to blasphemy. Adam Dan
Kafi, the head of the Hisbah religious police in the Ningi local government
area of Bauchi said the three men were arrested on June 14 and charged in a
sharia court.
The men,
including a 70-year-old, all confessed to the crime even though they were not
represented by lawyers, Kafi said. He said Judge Munka'ilu Sabo sentenced them
to death on Thursday but they could appeal the sentence within 30 days. Any
death penalty passed by sharia courts in Nigeria needs the approval of the
state governor. In Nigeria, like most parts of Africa, homosexuality is
generally viewed as unacceptable.
Nigeria,
Africa's most populous nation, has a law that allows lengthy prison terms for
those convicted of public display of same sex relationships and people entering
into a same sex marriage. The ruling in Bauchi could also shine a spotlight on
the place of Islamic sharia law in a country whose constitution is neutral on
religion. Last month, a Nigerian singer asked the Appeals Court to declare the
sharia penal code in another northern state unconstitutional. A ruling is
expected before October.
^ What is the
Commonwealth of Nations good for if they allow member countries, like Nigeria,
to murder Homosexuals? The Commonwealth is supposed to stand for a common-bond
of Democracy and Human Rights and yet out of the 54 Member Countries 35 Member
Countries outlaw Homosexuality.
The following Member
Countries have Homosexuality Illegal, but don’t Enforce the Law are: Mauritius,
Sri Lanka, the Cook Islands (New Zealand), Samoa, Malawi, Namibia, Eswatini,
Singapore, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica, Grenada, Guyana,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Kiribati,
Niue (New Zealand), Tonga, Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
The Following
Member Countries have Homosexuality Illegal and imprison Gays: Cameroon, Ghana,
Kenya, the southern part of Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Bangladesh,
Malaysia, the Maldives and Pakistan.
The Following
Member Countries have Homosexuality Illegal and Execute Gays: Brunei and the northern
part of Nigeria.
Any
Commonwealth Member Country/Territory that imprisons or executes Homosexuals is
not respecting Human Rights and should either be made to change their laws or
be kicked-out of the Commonwealth.
I can only hope
the 3 Gay Men in Nigeria (and all the other Gays in these other places) can get
outside help from the United Nations and the Commonwealth of Nations (especially:
the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.)
No one should
be killed for who they love. Not in 2022. ^
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