Among all the media hoo-haw on the day after the election, a small article in The New York Times, buried on the inside of page 19, made me feel outraged, nauseous, angry, and determined to make it all stop.
A 13-year-old girl, who had been raped while visiting her grandmother, was accused of adultery and stoned to death by Somali (Kenya) Islamist militants. [see comments for correction]
In the first such public killing by the militants in about two years, she was placed in a hole and stoned to death on October 28 in a rebel-held port city, Kismayu, in front of thousands.
Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was reported as being 23, based upon a judgment on her physical appearance, according to one of the journalists who had reported the stoning. Her actual age, 13, was confirmed to Amnesty International by other sources, including her father.
Local leaders said she was guilty under Shariah, the legal code of Islam based on the Koran. An individual calling himself Sheik Hayakalah, was quoted on Radio Shabelle saying, "The evidence came from her side and she officially confirmed her guilt, while she told us that she is happy with the punishment under Islamic law."
In contradiction to this claim, a number of eyewitnesses have told Amnesty International she struggled with her captors -- screaming as she was forcefully bound, legs and hands -- and had to be forcibly carried into the stadium.
"A woman in green veil and black mask was brought in a car as we waited to watch the merciless act of stoning," one local resident, Abdullahi Aden, told Reuters.
A truckload of stones was brought into the stadium to be used in the stoning.
The 23 13-year-old woman was placed in a hole up to her neck in front of about 1,000 spectators.
Nurses were instructed to pull her out of the hole to confirm that she was still alive when buried in the ground; she was.
Fifty men hurled stones at her head.
Then, witnesses said, she was removed from – and returned to -- the hole two more times to be stoned further, to ensure she was dead.
Inside the stadium, when relatives and some of the witnesses to the killing attempted to save her life, militia members opened fire and shot dead a boy who was a bystander.
An al-Shabab spokesperson was later reported to have apologized for the death of the child, and said the militia member would be punished:
"We apologize for killing the child. And we promise we shall bring the one who opened fire before the courts and deal with him accordingly," one unnamed Islamist leader told the crowd."
News Daily
So what had Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow done to earn the wrath of Shariah?
While traveling on foot to visit her grandmother, she had been detained by militia of the Kismayo authorities, a coalition of Al-shabab and clan militias, and was raped by three men.
Following the assault, Aisha and her family sought protection from the authorities.
It was this act that resulted in a girl of thirteen being accused of adultery.
Only last week, Amnesty International reported that "the girl stoned to death in Somalia this week was 13, not 23."
Some of the Somali journalists who had reported she was 23 have told Amnesty International that this age was based upon a judgment of her age from her physical appearance.
"The stoning was totally irreligious and illogical," said her sister, who asked not to be named.
"Islam does not execute a woman for adultery unless four witnesses and the man with whom she committed sex are brought forward publicly. "The stoning was totally irreligious and illogical. "Islam does not execute a woman for adultery unless four witnesses and the man with whom she committed sex are brought forward publicly."
Reuters reports the European Union’s presidency condemned the stoning:
"The EU ... condemns a particularly vile execution, which the Islamist insurgents who took control of the city deliberately publicized," it said in a statement.
Unicef said the episode highlighted the vulnerability of girls and women in Somalia, which has suffered under cycles of civil conflict for the past 17 years. In the latest cycle, Islamist rebels are fighting the government and their Ethiopian military backers.
"A child was victimized twice – first by the perpetrators of the rape and then by those responsible for administering justice."
"This was not justice, nor was it an execution. This child suffered a horrendous death at the behest of the armed opposition groups who currently control Kismayo," said David Copeman, Amnesty International's Somalia Campaigner.
"Amnesty International has campaigned to end the use of the punishment of stoning, calling it gruesome and horrific. This killing of Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow demonstrates the cruelty and the inherent discrimination against women of this punishment."
"...yet another human rights abuse committed by the combatants to the conflict in Somalia, and again demonstrates the importance of international action to investigate and document such abuses, through an International Commission of Inquiry."
As Amnesty International has documented previously, government officials, journalists and human rights defenders face death threats and killing if they are perceived to have spoken against al-Shabab, who have waged a campaign of intimidation against the Somali people through such killings.
Since the death, a number of individuals have told Amnesty International they have fled from Kismayo out of fear of suffering a similar fate to Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow.
Rebel spokesmen could not be reached immediately to respond to Unicef’s accusation.
None of the men she accused of rape have been arrested.
Sick? Outraged? Please visit these sites:
Stop Stoning
Women Living Under Muslim Laws
Stop Honour Killings
btw, Mojo jar is way down in the comments. I called it a tip jar, but that ended up sounding obscene. Give mojo in the name of Aisha.