Kelley Carter
11:38 a.m.
10 November 2009
In southern Somalia a man was recently stoned to death for adultery with his pregnant girl friend. The article does not specify whether the man has a wife in addition to the girl friend, but it is safe to assume that premarital sex was the only offence. The man was 33 years old when he was stoned to death in front of 300 people. His girlfriend is pregnant and her execution is being postponed until the baby is born. The president of Somalia, Sheikh Ahmed has accused these stonings of “spoiling the image of Islam by killing people and harassing women” and says that the actions are unrelated to the Islamic religion. He also claims that the inforcement of clothing guidelines for women has mostly economic incentives, as the people who tout the benefits also sell the clothing that is required. Last month two men accused of spying and one 13 year-old girl were stoned to death. Human rights groups say the girl was raped.
Stonings like this constantly threaten the lives of people that step out of line in countries with Sharia law, more so in the least developed nations. It is a shame that a religion can be twisted and misinterpreted to such an extreme that it’s followers can in open defiance of global norms, murder people without a trial, or any sanction from the government. In fact the president himself finds the stonings counterproductive, but no mention is made in the article of any action being taken against the killers. Overall the executions feel like they have unspoken support from people in the government, and largely the government is unable to take action against the renegade group. I think a government should be required to protect it’s people at all costs, but in Somalia, which hasn’t had a working national government in 18 years, it is almost impossible to imagine it being any help at all.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8347216.stm
3 comments:
Articles like this are scary and disturbing to read. It's eye opening to those of us that live in America and are free to have premarital sex with our girlfriends and boyfriends, with the comfort of not fearing being stoned to death. That is brutal and seems to be a violation of human rights, at least from an American's point of view it is.
I agree that this was a very disturbing article to read. Punishements for crimes committed elsewhere in the world are very severe compared with US punishments.
I think this article just shows how values vary from country to country. Because in America premarital sex and adultery aren't really too big of a deal. Most of the time it is agreed that both are wrong, but there's nothing done to "prevent" it, so to speak. But in other countries they're seen differently, with obviously harsh consequences.
Post a Comment