§ Sue DoughtyTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to the Nigerian Government in support of Safiyatu Hussaini in advance of her appeal hearing on 18 March following her sentence of death by stoning for the crime of adultery; and if he will make a statement. [28967]
§ Mr. BradshawWe are deeply concerned at the sentence of stoning given to Safiyatu Hussaini for adultery by a Sharia Court in Sokoto State, northern Nigeria, on 9 October 2001. We are following this case32W closely. The British high commission in Abuja takes every opportunity to raise the human rights implications of the extreme sentences laid down in the Sharia criminal code. We expect the Nigerian Government to meet their international human rights obligations. Nigeria ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1993. We also remind the Nigerians regularly of our opposition to the use of the death penalty.
The Sokoto Sharia Court of Appeal has issued a stay of execution until Ms Hussaini's appeal is heard.