08/10/2007
18 Gay Nigerian Men Face Possible Death by Stoning
Eighteen Nigerian men who were on their way to a "gay wedding" in Bauchi town were reportedly arrested while wearing women's clothes and may face death, the BBC reports:
"The men were arrested in a hotel in north-eastern Bauchi State, which is governed by the Islamic Sharia law. The Sharia punishment for sodomy is death by stoning...Sharia judge Malam Tanimu ordered that the 18 be remanded in prison after they were arraigned before him on Wednesday. More than a dozen Nigerian Muslims have been sentenced to death by stoning and for sexual offences ranging from adultery and homosexuality. But none of these death sentences have actually been carried out as they were either thrown out on appeal or commuted to prison terms as a result of pressure from human rights groups. Many others have been sentenced to flogging by horsewhip for drinking. But there have been two amputations in north-western Zamfara State which pioneered the introduction of the Islamic legal system in the country."
Sounds like a wonderful place.
Gay Nigerians face Sharia death [bbc]
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 11:30 AM EST by Andy in Crime, Gay Marriage, Gay Rights, News, Nigeria | Permalink
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To think that practices such as these still exist in the world baffles me. Good lord! Of all things the Nigerian authorities could have implemented (for the people), they had to go and import a law so medieval even its inventors dropped it. Unbe-fucking-lievable!!
Posted by: Shabaka | Aug 10, 2007 12:30:54 PM
Yet another wonderful story from the Islamic world. I know, I know, we are supposed to be PC and tolerant of their differences, stonings and all.
Posted by: Kamasutra Jones | Aug 10, 2007 1:08:07 PM
"It's another day in the neighborhood..."
Posted by: anon (gmail.com) | Aug 10, 2007 1:19:43 PM
And of course because it's associated with a religious practice we have to be all tolerant and open minded about it.
Bullshit. It's barbaric and has no place in today's world. Maybe that's the problem... Nigeria (and nations like it) haven't yet joined the modern world. Can that be the problem? Or is it just the relationship between poverty, hopelessness, and reactionary thinking that we see all over the world, not just in Nigeria?
Regardless of the reasons for the adoption of sharia, it means destruction and despair for the majority of people under its rule. And of course no one at the UN or anywhere else will do a thing about it.
Posted by: Brian | Aug 10, 2007 1:27:53 PM
muslims are so awesome, it's like they try extra hard to be barbaric instead of just screaming that your going to hell like Phelps. Please people do not support muslim Sharia governments
Posted by: Tim | Aug 10, 2007 1:56:12 PM
Some of you are really ignorant. Sharia Law is barbaric, inhumane, and all of the above, but not all muslims subscribe to it. It's a certain branch of fundamentalism you ignoramuses.
Posted by: Seann | Aug 10, 2007 2:14:35 PM
I was actually hoping to hear more about the plight of gay muslims in last night's debate.
Posted by: Giovanni | Aug 10, 2007 2:28:30 PM
It always amazes me how ignorant some people are on this site. There are fundamentalist Christians that would do the exact same thing if given the chance. Remember tha Christianity has been around a lot longer than Islam. Only God, knows how many gays died during its infancy.
Posted by: sugarrhill | Aug 10, 2007 6:32:48 PM
For Sugarrhill:
While it's true that there are Christians who support the stoning of gays, it takes a serious case of denial not to understand that their numbers are far, far smaller, both relatively and absolutely, in comparison to Muslims societies around the world who the common man in the street supports sharia law.
Bonus question: if fundamentalist Christians want to see gays stoned to death, and if George Bush is their puppet, why don't we see such punishments in place in our legal system today?
Posted by: Contrariwise | Aug 10, 2007 9:17:43 PM
The remarkable thing about this piece is that it concerns Islamic Nigeria.
Northern Nigeria as seen a return of epidemic polio specifically because the local govt rejected western medical overtures to eradicate, as has been done in the rest of the country.
At this time, public health think tanks are presupposing that this same area will will be an epicenter of H5N1, aka bird flu. The virus is there & these public health people think it's merely a matter of time. Unless the locals become more accommodating to western medicine.
Posted by: zabadak | Aug 11, 2007 5:23:38 AM