A woman has been sentenced to death by stoning in Sudan for adultery, the case is the first documented case in the country in nearly a decade.
Last month, police in the White Nile state of Sudan arrested Maryam Alsyed Tiyrab, a 20year married woman.
However, Tiyrab says that she would appeal the judgment at the Supreme Court as the majority of women’s stoning punishments are overturned by the highest court.
Campaigners are concerned that the sentence is an indication that the October military coup has empowered MPs to undo modest achievements for women’s rights gained under the country’s transitional administration.
The African Center for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS), based in Uganda, asserted that Tiyrab’s sentence violated both domestic and international law and demanded her immediate and unconditional release.
The center asserted that the lady did not receive a fair trial and was not informed that the information she provided during interrogation would be used against her. Likewise, Tiyrab was denied legal representation.
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“The application of the death penalty by stoning for the crime of adultery is a grave violation of international law, including the right to life and the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” the centre said.
Following the ouster of Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese transitional government in 2020 proposed adjustments to several of the country’s Sharia and strict criminal laws. The revisions did not include the practice of stoning, but in August, the nation accepted the United Nations treaty against torture. According to the ACJPS, stoning is a kind of state-sanctioned torture and a violation of the country’s human rights commitments.
Jehanne Henry, a human rights attorney, stated that the sentence demonstrates that draconian sharia laws and punishments are still enforced in Sudan.
“The death by stoning case is a reminder that the criminal law reforms during the transition [government] were not complete, and that such harsh, archaic punishments are still officially on the books.”
The courts still impose the punishment of flogging, which was prohibited in 2020. 2013 marked the final known instance of a woman being sentenced to stoning for adultery in South Kordofan state. The judgment was reversed.
The judgment was reversed.
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