Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM)

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Committee for a Workers' International

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Socialist Democracy Nov - Dec 2002

Political Violence, Election Rigging ...

Don’t Kill Amina Lawal

• Repeal All Undemocratic, Dehumanising And Anti-Poor Laws

The Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) joins several women, labour and youth activists and organisations both in Nigeria and internationally in condemning in its entirety the judgement of the Upper Sharia Court in Funtua, Katsina State, which confirmed the death sentence, by stoning, earlier passed on a nursing mother, Mrs. Amina Lawal, by a lower Islamic sharia court in the state, on the allegation that she committed adultery.

We equally condemn the death sentence, by stoning which an Upper Sharia Court in New Gawu, Niger State, passed on Ahmadu Ibrahim (male, 32) and Fatima Usman (female, 30) who were also found guilty of alleged adultery.

These cases are coming after the case of Safiyat Hussain, the nursing mother in Sokoto State who was equally condemned by stoning but who was later freed by a sharia court of appeal on 18th March, 2002, as a result of local and international pressure. These death sentences are not only barbaric, dehumanising and antiquated, they amount to gross and monumental violation of the democratic rights of the victims. In particular, they represent vicious attacks on the rights of women. We therefore unequivocally call for their immediate reversal.

THE RIGHT OF RELIGIOUS BELIEVERS

The DSM supports and defends the rights of religious believers, both Muslims and non-Muslims, to practise their religions. We fight against discrimination on the basis of religion, gender, ethnic origin or race. In this sense, the right of Muslims to practise those aspects of sharia which pertain to worship, mode of dressing, naming of children and other personal matters must be respected.

At the same time, socialists, labour and youth activists, and working people’s organisations like the trade unions, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and National Conscience Party (NCP) have a responsibility to uphold people’s democratic rights to life and human dignity, and to oppose violations of these rights and any policy and action which dehumanises and demeans ordinary working people.

STATE AND RELIGION

In particular, we demand that religion should be a personal affair and should be separated from the state. This is even more imperative in a multi-religious society like Nigeria. The failure to adhere to this principle by successive capitalist governments in Nigeria, both military and civilian, is one of the main reasons for the rising wave of ethnic and religious conflicts in the country, particularly since the beginning of the introduction of sharia law by some states in the northern part of the country from year 2000. In all, about 10,000 lives have been reportedly lost to ethnic and religious violence since military rule ended in May, 1999.

All post-independent constitutions of Nigeria, including the current 1999 Constitution (chapter 2, section10) forbid the adoption of any religion as state religion by any level of government. In reality, all sections of the ruling capitalist elite, both christians and muslims, have never adhered to this principle because of their selfish personal and political calculations. Every year, governments at all levels spend billions of naira to promote religious causes, including sponsoring pilgrims to Jerusalem and Mecca and building or sponsoring of the building of mosques and churches. About two years ago, President Obasanjo commissioned a church inside Aso Rock, the seat of government. In a sharia state like Zamfara State, the state radio station refused paid adverts from churches and christians are forbidden from taking alcohol and to interact freely with women in public. All these actions create room for suspicion and allegation of state’s bias for a particular religion, thus fuelling religious and ethnic conflicts.

SHARIA CRIMINAL CODE

The bourgeois politicians who introduced the sharia penal code with severe punishments such as stoning and amputation for crimes like stealing, prostitution or so-called adultery argue that these type of harsh law and punishments are necessary to curb the increasing wave of crimes in the society. Even, some sections of the working masses both within and outside the sharia states, perturbed by the violent crimes and social decadence which pervade society, genuinely support the penal code in the belief that it is the solution to these problems. The penal code is also informed by the false idea that the harsher the punishment the lesser the crime rate.

But all these views are erroneous. Crimes, violence, prostitution and other social vices are products of worsening mass poverty and unemployment, which are engendered by the Nigeria’s crisis-ridden neo-colonial capitalist economy. Only the abolition of the causes of endemic poverty, the provision of decent living, full employment with a living wage, free and qualitative education and medicare and adequate housing for all can lead to the eradication of crimes.

This explains why the DSM always campaigns against and calls on the labour movement and the NLC to organise mass struggles against privatisation of public assets, commercialisation of social services, retrenchment of workers, non-payment of wages and pensions and other anti-poor neo-liberal capitalist policies which fuel mass unemployment, hunger, homelessness, destitution and general mass poverty. Above all, we call on the working class to organise to overthrow capitalism, the principal root cause of endemic mass poverty, misery and ignorance, and to transform society along democratic, socialist lines through the coming to power of a workers’ and poor farmers’ government. It is only this type of arrangement that can guarantee decent living for all and eradicate crimes.

On the contrary the floggings, amputations, stoning and other harsh sentences being used in the sharia states will on the long run fail to reduce or eliminate crimes. Since the early 70s, armed robbery has been punished by execution in Nigeria. But this has failed to reduce armed robbery. On the contrary, violent robberies have continued to escalate due to worsening economic crisis and huge youth unemployment.

A POLITICAL DIVERSION

In reality, the introduction of sharia by the capitalist politicians in some of the northern states was a deliberate strategy to seek cheap popularity by using religion to divert the masses’ attention away from their failure to provide the basic necessities of life, jobs and social security for the populace. In the same manner, the capitalist elite in the southern part of the country are hypocritically pretending to be championing the interests of their people, through agitation for resource control.

AN ANTI-POOR LAW

Most importantly, the DSM opposes the sharia penal code as presently enacted and practised in these states because it discriminates against the poor working people in general and poor, marginalized women in particular. Since the introduction of the code, several poverty-stricken peasant farmers and traders have had their limbs amputated and incapacitated for life for allegedly stealing items like cattle, goats or hen. Many ordinary workers and traders have been flogged and humiliated in public for consumption or sale of alcoholic drinks. All those who have been sentenced under the code have been poor working masses, women and men. These include Mallam Jangbedi, the peasant whose arm was amputated in Zamfara State allegedly for stealing a cow, Safiyat, Amina and Ahmadu, to mention just a few of the poor victims.

In contrast, the capitalist politicians and top civil servants who enacted this degrading and inhuman penal code continue to get away with brazen acts of fraud and the looting of several millions of naira from public treasury. In the same Zamfara State, a top official of the state hosuse of assembly was indicted for stealing an official car and selling it for N2.1 million. Though he was found guilty by a sharia court, his hand was not amputated. A member of the assembly explained to journalists that the reason for this was that the official’s offence was not stealing but betrayal of public trust! In addition, these rich elements have relationships outside marriage without having to suffer the indignity of being dragged to court or sentenced to death by stoning. Surely, if anybody truly deserves to be sentenced to death, it is these corrupt and rich elite who embezzled public funds which ought to have been used to provide jobs, education, food and healthcare for the populace.

In addition, we oppose some of these sentences because they attack individual freedom, particularly the right of women to marry partners of their choice. In the case of Fatima Usman, for example, she was dragged to court because she refused to marry the man that her father wanted to force on her and instead entered into a relationship with Ahmadu Ibrahim. We believe that women, like men, should have the right to enter into free and voluntary marital and sexual relationships.

Miss World:

Debasing Women For Profit Sake

On 7th December, Nigeria will host the Miss World "beauty" pageant in Abuja, the federal capital. Private interests as well as the government are investing millions of dollars in this programme. Among the leading personalities behind it is the wife of the president herself, Chief (Mrs) Stella Obasanjo.

Socialists are opposed to this programme. This is essentially because modern day beauty contests are one of the means by which women's oppression is perpetuated. The concept of beauty pageants view women not as complex persons, but primarily as sexual objects which exist only in relation to the male desire. No doubt it has been associated with rise in cases of sexual harassment.

Organisers of the contest are desperately trying to make the contest appear as modern and not sexist by stating that some of the contestants are studying for degrees, and that some have professional jobs, etc. This may be true but it is a token gesture to try and claim that it is not just looks that determine the winner. The question to ask is why are all the contestants of a certain height, no more than size 10 and generally look the same?

The reason for this is that these contests are increasingly linked to the need of the multinational corporations to sell their products and boost their profits through the use of women for advertisement. A certain "acceptable"

image of women is therefore being promoted. Models are getting thinner as the pressure is on from these industries for women to look a certain way. While women are made to debase themselves, the multinational companies and show promoters like Silverbird and Ben-Bruce rake in millions of dollars and smile to the bank.

There was an advert in the Nigerian dailies in July last year promoting the sale of a brand of car. A car and a lady was used in the advertisement. The caption of the advert is: "

if you want it open she will take off her dress; covered, she will put on her dress". Also the fast food chain, Tantalizer advertisement says: "Have you tantalised her lately". This contest and all these adverts promote the idea that there is some "ideal"

body image which women must aspire to, and that they are to behave in a submissive manner. In particular, this gives young men a completely false and dangerous idea of how women should look and behave.

The resources which will be wasted on this jamboree would have been more productively utilised by investing in education, skill acquisition, provision of jobs with decent pay, childcare facilities, healthcare, and other social services in dire need of resources. This would have contributed in reducing the rate of illiteracy, unemployment, prostitution and crimes among women.

But this cannot be possible under capitalism, a system which puts selfish, private greed above public interest. This is why the working people as a whole, and working class women in particular, must see the need for real change, the overthrow capitalism and introduction of a democratic socialist arrangement. Through this, the process towards ending the oppression of women can be started.

Meanwhile, the Miss World show is being threatened by boycott by many of the expected participants. The planned boycott is to protest against the death sentence on Aminat Lawal by the Sharia court in Katsina state for allegedly committing adultery. Among the contestants who are planning to boycott the event are those from Denmark, Kenya, South Africa, Switzerland, Australia, Spain, France, Belgium and Costa Rica. Miss France was quoted as saying- ' when a woman faces the most agonising death, there are more important things in life than winning a crown for being beautiful'.

Continued ...