How Not to Help Amina Lawal: The Hidden Dangers of Letter Campaigns

Apart from addressing the case in question, which I've seen postings about on 
one or another of the listservs I'm on, this article raises general questions 
about effective and counterproductive ways of offering international solidarity.
Steven Sherman
http://www.counterpunch.org/iman05152003.html
How Not to Help Amina LawalThe Hidden Dangers of Letter CampaignsBy AYESHA IMAN 
and SINDI MEDAR-GOULD
 
Editors' note: We have been forwarded by regular CounterPunch contributor 
Professor Bruce Jackson of SUNY, Buffalo, this important letter from two 
leaders of the Nigerian group Baobab for Women's Human Rights. Some background: 
Amnesty International and other groups have recently been said to be generating 
letters and petitions on behalf of Amina Lawal, a Nigerian woman sentenced to 
death by stoning for adultery. It turns out that letters and petitions, even 
the few that aren't just chain-letter foolishness, may do more harm than good 
and that the situation in Nigeria is at once far more complex and less dire 
than it seems from the outside. There are ways to help, starting with 
understanding what is really going on. This letter from a board member and the 
executive director of the Nigerian feminist group BAOBAB explains it all.
Dear friends,
There has been a whole host of petitions and letter writing campaigns about 
Amina Lawal (sentenced to stoning to death for adultery in August 2002). Many 
of these are inaccurate and ineffective and may even be damaging to her case 
and those of others in similar situations. BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights, 
which is responsible for initiating and continuing to support the defences of 
cases like Ms. Lawal's, thanks the world for its support and concern, but 
requests that you please stop the Amina Lawal international protest letter 
campaigns for now (May 2003). The information currently circulated is 
inaccurate, and the situation in Nigeria, being volatile, will not be helped by 
such campaigns. At the end of this letter, we indicate ways in which you can 
help us and we hope we can count on your continuing support.
Clarification of Facts
First, we would like to pass on some facts that hopefully will clarify the 
situation somewhat. Contrary to information being widely circulated, Amina 
Lawal's conviction has NOT been upheld by Nigeria's Supreme Court. Ms. Lawal 
was originally convicted by an Upper Area Court in Katsina State in northern 
Nigeria. Her appeal is currently before the Katsina State Sharia Court of 
Appeal. The appeal had been several times postponed. However the next appeal 
hearing has now been set for June 3, 2003. Should this appeal not succeed, Ms. 
Lawal would appeal to the (Nigerian Federal) Sharia Court of Appeal. Only if 
unsuccessful at the federal appeal court also would Ms. Lawal's case go to the 
Supreme Court of Nigeria. In other words, the process is a long way from 
immediate stoning to death. Although the stress on Ms. Lawal is obviously 
considerable and awful, she is not in immediate danger of a judicial execution.
Furthermore, so far, not one appeal that has been taken up by BAOBAB and 
supporting local NGOs in Nigeria has been lost. All the completed appeals 
processes have been successful. Again, so far, all these appeals have been won 
in local state Sharia courts--none have yet needed to go up to the Federal 
Sharia Court of Appeal, from whence appeals would go to the Supreme Court. (We 
do note, however, that there is still work to be done at this level, as 
sometimes the judges have chosen to quash on technicalities, thus avoiding the 
substantive grounds of the appeals. However, we note also that historically, 
the State Sharia Courts of Appeal, and especially the Federal Sharia Court of 
Appeal, have passed judgements that are more gender-fair--in marked contrast to 
the lower courts where all of these convictions were passed).
Contrary to the statements in many of the internationally originated appeals 
for petitions and protest letters, none of the victims received a pardon as a 
result of international pressure. None of them has received a pardon at all--or 
needed to, so far.
None of the sentences of stoning to death have been carried out. Either the 
appeals were successful or those convicted are still in the appeals process.
Dangers of Letter Writing Campaigns?
However, if there is an immediate physical danger to Ms. Lawal and others, it 
is from vigilante and political further (over)reaction to international 
attempts at pressure. This has happened already in the case of Bariya Magazu, 
the unmarried teenager convicted of zina (extra-marital sex) and sentenced to 
flogging in Zamfara in 1999. Ms. Magazu's sentence was quite illegally brought 
forward with no notice, despite the earlier assurances of the trial judge that 
the sentence would not be carried out for at least a year. She was told the 
night before that it would be carried out very early the next morning (and thus 
had no way of contacting anyone for help even if this unschooled and poor rural 
teenager had access to a telephone or organizing knowledge and experience), 
whilst the state bureaucracy had been instructed to obstruct and was physically 
refusing to take the appeal papers from BAOBAB's lawyers. The extra-legal 
carrying out of the sentence was not despite national and international 
pressure; it was deliberately to defy it. The Governor of Zamfara State boasted 
of his resistance to "these letters from infidels"--even to sniggering over how 
many letters he had received. Thus, we would like you to recognise that an 
international protest letter campaign is not necessarily the most productive 
way to act in every situation. On the contrary, women's rights defenders should 
assess potential backlash effects before devising strategies.
Problems with Petitions based on Inaccurate Information
Even when protests are appropriate forms of action, when they are obviously 
based on inaccuracies of fact they are easier to ignore. Circulating protests 
and writing letters based on inaccurate information may further damage the 
situation instead of helping. They certainly damage the credibility of the 
local activists, who are assumed to have supplied this information. If we 
remember that it is local activists who most facilitate turning rights 
principles into everyday reality for people, then reducing the ability and 
potential of local activists to carry out women's and human rights promotion 
and defence is a counter-productive mode of proceeding. Please check the 
accuracy of the information with local activists, before further circulating 
petitions or responding to them.
Re-Presenting negative stereotypes of Islam and Muslims
Dominant colonialist discourses and the mainstream international media have 
presented Islam (and Africa) as the barbaric and savage Other. Please do not 
buy into this. Accepting stereotypes that present Islam as incompatible with 
human rights not only perpetuates racism but also confirms the claims of 
right-wing politico-religious extremists in all of our contexts. We appreciate 
that many who join letter writing campaigns are motivated by the same sense of 
international solidarity and feminist outrage that leads us at BAOBAB to 
participate in international actions. But when protest letters re-present 
negative stereotypes of Islam and Muslims, they inflame sentiments rather than 
encouraging reflection and strengthening local progressive movements. They may 
result in behaviour such as that of the Zamfara State governor over Bariya 
Magazu, or even more threatening, hostile and violent behaviour by vigilantes 
(in extra-legal acts by non-state actors like the hordes of young unemployed 
men who are the bulk of the vigilantes). Consequently, such letters can put in 
further danger both the victims who are easily reachable in their home 
communities, and, the activists and lawyers supporting them (who are 
particularly vulnerable when they have to walk through hostile crowds on their 
way to court, for instance).
Muslim discourses and the invocation of Islam have been used both to vindicate 
and protect women s rights in some places and times, and to violate and 
restrict them in other places and times--as in the present case. The same can 
be said of many, many other religions and discourses (for example, 
Christianity, capitalism, socialism, modernization to name but a few). The 
point is for us to question who is invoking Islam (or whatever 
belief/discourse) for what purposes, and also to acknowledge and support 
internal dissent within the community involved, rather than engaging in a 
wholesale condemnation of peoples' beliefs and cultures, which is seldom 
accurate or effective in changing views within the affected community. Please 
be sensitive to these concerns in any protest letters you may write.
Supporting Local Pressures
There is a place for international pressure and campaigns. We would not risk 
anyone's life by insisting on never having an international campaign. However, 
using international protest appeals as the automatic response reduces its 
usefulness as an advocacy tool. We feel that this is not the time for an 
international letter writing campaign, but we are concerned that should the 
situation change, and we then need international pressure and ask for 
international support, the moral energy and indignation of the world may 
already have been spent--resulting in campaign fatigue (been there, done that 
already).
International letter writing campaigns have specific potential that can be 
spectacularly successful (as in the case of Fatima Yacoub in Tchad in the 
mid-1990s). However, they are not appropriate in this campaign at this time. 
This is not one individual case. Not all the cases of conviction have made the 
international headlines or even the national media. They cannot all become 
international causes céélèèbres and subjects for letter-writing protests. (Very 
few people know the name of Hafsatu Abubakar, the first woman to be acquitted 
after appealing a stoning to death sentence, nor any of the other 8 women and 
10 youths whose current cases BAOBAB is also dealing with, for instance).
Using local structures and mechanisms (as a means of resisting retrogressive 
laws or interpretations of laws and the forces behind them) is the priority. It 
strengthens local counter-discourses and often carries greater legitimacy than 
'outside' pressure. Further, it can really address the local political power 
struggles that are behind the political use of religions and ethnicities in 
Nigeria. The political Islamists and vigilantes threaten (and carry out) acts 
of violence against those who criticise them, in order to intimidate people. 
But they have also been promoting the view that any criticism or appeal of 
conviction is anti-Islam and tantamount to apostasy, and thereby trying to get 
people to submit quietly and voluntarily. One of the means of countering this 
was our choice to pursue the appeals in the Sharia system, and thereby 
demonstrate that people have a right to appeal and to challenge injustices, 
including those made in the name of Islam.
Every appeal in the local sharia courts strengthens this process. Since the 
first cases, that of Bariya Magazu, (where BAOBAB had to convince her family 
and various opinion-leaders in the village to agree to an appeal) and the 
Jangedi case (where a man convicted of theft refused to appeal and had his hand 
amputated), many victims have no longer acquiesced to injustices, but actively 
sought help. Furthermore, in both Safiya Husseini Tungar-Tudu's and Amina 
Lawal's cases, members of their community have spoken about the abuse of Sharia 
and taken actions to protect them from local vigilantes. These are actions that 
would not have happened when BAOBAB first started this work in 1999. At that 
time, even finding a lawyer from the Muslim community willing to represent the 
victim was not easy.
Winning appeals in the Sharia courts, as we and others have done, establishes 
that convictions should not have been made. A pardon means that people are 
guilty but the state is forgiving them for it. It does not have the same moral 
and political resonance. A pardon that is perceived as occurring as a result of 
outside pressure is even less likely to convince the community of its 
rightness. If we don't want such abuses to go on and on, then we have to 
convince the community not to accept injustices even when perpetrated in the 
name of strongly held beliefs.
Deciding on Strategies to Fight Injustices
We are asking for international solidarity strategies that respect the analyses 
and agency of those activists most closely involved and in touch with the 
issues on the ground and the wishes of the women and men directly suffering 
rights violations. The local groups in Nigeria directly representing victims 
(in the lead of whom are BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights and WRAPA--Women's 
Rights Advancement and Protection Agency) have specifically asked that there 
NOT be international letter writing campaigns. When victims of human rights 
abuses are held incommunicado, then clearly all anyone can do is act on our own 
beliefs to try and help them. This is not such a situation. The victims are not 
in detention (and indeed give press interviews). They have chosen to appeal and 
accepted the assistance of NGOs like BAOBAB, WRAPA and the networks of Nigerian 
women's and human rights NGOs that support them. There is an unbecoming 
arrogance in assuming that international human rights organisations or others 
always know better than those directly involved, and therefore can take actions 
that fly in the face of their express wishes. Of course, there is always the 
possibility that those directly involved are wrong but surely the course of 
action is to persuade them of the correctness of one's analysis and strategies, 
rather than ignore their wishes. They at least have to live directly with the 
consequences of any wrong decisions that they take. Please do liaise with those 
whose rights have been violated and/or local groups directly involved to 
discuss strategies of solidarity and support before launching campaigns.
So how can people and other organisations help? In the immediate, resources 
(money but not only money) are needed to support both the victims directly and 
the appeal processes. The victims--almost all of them poor, and most also rural 
dwellers--have found that their lives and work and those of their families are 
disrupted. They are economically hard hit, as well as under considerable social 
pressure. Often their health (physical and psychological) suffers as a result 
of stress. Sometimes a safe house is needed in the face of threats from 
vigilantes--there are no institutional ones in northern Nigeria. It may be 
necessary to consider safe asylum (bearing in mind issues like travel 
documents, visas, costs and how government bureaucracies will react). Resources 
are needed for living expenses for victims, their dependents and families, and 
to deal with stress-related consequences (counselling support, medical 
treatments and drugs amongst them), and to deal with safety and security. 
Experience and strategy-sharing with other groups who have dealt with similar 
situations supporting victims through an appeals process and campaign would 
also be most welcome.
Then there are the costs of fighting the appeals. Obviously there are legal 
costs. These include court fees and lawyers' fees. (Not all lawyers are willing 
or financially able to work completely pro bono. Even when they donate their 
expertise, they may have to be paid for court appearances, travel and 
subsistence expenses). They also include costs in document preparation 
especially in multiple copies and so on. There are also a whole series of 
associated costs. Fighting appeals is person and time-intensive. Activists have 
to; check media and local networks to find victims; travel to offer support to 
victims; draw on networks to find lawyers willing to represent victims; convene 
and participate in strategy sessions (yet more travel as these are often 
national); prepare the arguments and documentation; travel to the court with 
the victims; engage in victim support (discuss their situations and the 
possible options and ramifications, deal with consequential issues like loss of 
land, or ill-health, provide emotional support); liaise with and service the 
local and international networks supporting such work; not to mention write the 
reports and analyses constantly required.
 
Resources to support all this work is needed.
Women's rights activists working on these issues very early on received support 
from progressive lawyers, Islamic scholars and rights activists from throughout 
Nigeria, the Muslim world and elsewhere, in the form of legal and religious 
argumentation (fiqh), case law examples and strategies which were generously 
shared. We would like to acknowledge this help and support--it has been 
extremely useful and we can probably never have enough of it.
For the long-term, there are two needs to work on: constructing the cultures of 
recognizing rights and fighting violations at the local and national levels; 
and, to develop argumentation and advocacy to change the laws, evidence 
requirements and procedures.
In sum, funding for credible organizations doing both immediate and long-term 
work is urgently needed.
Exchanges of information, experiences and knowledge in similar situations would 
also be helpful.
Practical offer of safe havens--outside the community but within Nigeria, and, 
outside of Nigeria may also be needed.
Finally, do please circulate this message widely--including to all the 
list-servs and networks where petitions based on inaccurate information have 
been circulated. If you would share and discuss this message with other 
activists and organisations who have demonstrated their solidarity on these 
cases, that would be helpful.
Respectfully
Ayesha Imam (Board Member)
Sindi Medar-Gould (Executive Director)
BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights
BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights has been closely involved with defending the 
rights of women, men and children in Muslim, customary and secular laws--and in 
particular of those convicted under the new Sharia Criminal legislation acts 
passed in Nigeria since 2000. In fact, BAOBAB was the first (and for several 
months the only) NGO with members from the Muslim community, who were willing 
to speak publicly against retrogressive versions of Muslim laws and to work on 
changing the dominant conservative understanding of the rights of women in 
enacted Sharia (Muslim religious laws), as well as in customary and secular 
laws. BOABAB was also the first, and again for some time the only NGO to 
actually find the victims and support their appeals, raising funds for the 
costs and putting together a strategy team of women's and human rights 
activists, lawyers and Islamic scholars contributing their expertise and time 
voluntarily. BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights was the 2002 recipient of the John 
Humphrey Freedom Award for this work. BAOBAB's work was also recently cited by 
the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women as an example of best practice.
If you would like to support BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights work, please send 
a check/cheque or international money order made out to:
a) BAOBAB / WLUML-AME Legal Defence Fund (supports the immediate costs victims 
and appeals process); and/or
b) BAOBAB / WLUML-AME Rights Advocacy Fund (supports the long-term work in 
enabling the critique of the rights in Muslim laws, as in customary and secular 
laws, and to work on the reconstruction of rights in law and practice); and/or
c) BAOBAB / WLUML-AME Core Funding (enables flexibility in usage--it must still 
be accounted for and reported on)
These should be sent to: BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights P O Box 73630 or 
Victoria Island Lagos, Nigeria PMB 134, or 1333A North Avenue New Rochelle NY 
10804, USA