Appeal for women threatened with death

["Harry M. Cleaver" <hmcleave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 05 Dec 1997 17:53:56 -0500
From: Tracy Quan <quan@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Harry M. Cleaver" <hmcleave@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Please post this to PEN-L and other lists: Four Women Facing  Imminent Death


Date: Fri, 05 Dec 1997 12:03:12 -0500
Subject: Four Women Facing Imminent Death ! (fwd)

If you would like to add your name to the list write to:

 <magda@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> as soon as possible

Subject: Four Women Facing Imminent Death ! (fwd)

Dear friends,

Please support this URGENT APPEAL to save the lives of four Sudanese women
who are now facing the death penalty by the NIF regime.

To support this appeal, add your signature to the list below.

Feel free to pass it to all your friends,

Thank you

magda
 _____________________________________________________________________
 The Secretary General Of The UN, New York
 The Secretary General Of The OAU, Addis Ababa
 The UN Commission For Human Rights, Geneva
 The Chair Of The UN Women s Committee, New York
 The UN Representative In Sudan, Khartoum
 The Heads Of The Diplomatic Missions In Sudan
 Khartoum Amnesty International, London
 Human Rights Watch, Washington, D.C.
 The Sudan Human Rights Organization, London
 The Arab Bar Association, Cairo

* Four Women Facing Imminent Execution! *


 We, the undersigned, respectfully ask for  your prompt action to stop the
 death sentence issued by a Sudanese court against four women accused of
 engaging in  prostitution .  On Tuesday November 25, 1997, the Sudan News
 Agency (SUNA) reported, that four women have been sentenced to death by an
 Islamic Shariaa Court for prostitution . The convicted women have been
 allowed only 15 days (until Dec. 10/97) to appeal this brutal sentence.
 Sudan s Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Abdelbasit Sabdrat, has
confirmed that the women s case is before the Supreme Court and that the
execution would be carried out unless it is reversed. Since 1983, those
sentenced for  prostitution  had been subjected to death by stoning in
public.  The penal code in Sudan is part of the abhored 1983 Sharia laws,
introduced by the deposed dictator Numeiri and carried over by the National
Islamic Front (NIF) and the present military junta. These laws contravene
the universally accepted principles of justice. In the Sudan, thoughtful
Muslims and other citizens have persistently opposed the introduction of
Numeiri s/NIF selfstyled Shariaa law, especially the application of the
hudud punishments (amputation, crucifixion and stoning) at a time of
enormous social and economic distress in the country.    Unlike the
adultery  offense for which the Islamic Shariaa has laid down  stricter
rules, the prostitution offense is vague and often based on hearsay and
circumstantial evidence. The death sentence handed down to the four
convicted women is unjustified and unusually cruel.  The excessive
punishment, notwithstanding, the convicted women have been allowed only 15
days for appeal.  This is a travesty of justice and a flagrant violation of
the Universal Declaration On Human Rights and the OAU Human Rights
Convention to which the Sudan government is a signatory.   An offense such
as  prostitution  should have been considered in the context of the
enormous economic and social hardships emanating from decades of civil war,
displacement and other reprisals primarily endured  by women.  By ignoring
these mitigating circumstances, the court officials who convicted the four
women have demonstrated incompetence and shameful disregard for justice
and human lives.

We, the undersigned, are gravely incensed by the cruelty of the  sentence
meted out to the four convicted women.  We are extremely concerned the
death sentence might be carried out, unless a powerful, worldwide campaign
is launched on their behalf.   Here and today, we call on the advocates of
human rights everywhere to raise their voices and demand this extremely
cruel punishment against the four convicted women be quashed.  We are in a
tight race against time to prevent a senseless tragedy from happening on
Dec. 10th.

Your voice and expeditious intervention will make a colossal   difference
in the struggle to save four precious lives.  Please, support this appeal
by every possible means!  Demand this mockery trial be declared null and
void. The  military government in Sudan should be put on notice that its
assault on human rights will not go unchecked!.

Thank you very much for your sympathy and support.

 Signatures:
 Hashim Mohd Salih, California
 Asma Abdelhalim, New York
 Dr. Abdel Magid Bob, California
 Omar Hassan, California
 Ahmad Al-Kheiry Al-Dabi, Washington, D.C.
 Dr. Rasheed Khalifa, California
 Um Al-Kheir Kambal, California
 Sondra Hale, California
 Sausan Gafaar, California
 Abdel Rahim Mohd Minalla, California
 Igbal Mohd, California
 Tartiq Abel Moneim, Toronto
 Amir Mohammed, Texas
 Arhab Abdalla, N. Carolina
 Amin kamil saeed, Pennsylvania
 Jamal Mahgoub, California
 Ishraga Taha Mustafa, Pennsyvania
 Igbal A/Gadir, Pennsylvania
 Dr. Abderahman Ibrahim, Pennsylvania
 Omar Abdel Sawi, Pennsylvania
 Dr. Nahid Mohd Ahmad, Pennsylvania
 Mohd Algadi, Massachusetts
 Magda Mohd Ahmad Ali, Massachusetts
 Mohd Ali, New York
 Amir Musa, New York
 Abdelsalm Bushra, Minnesota
 Thuraia Ibrahim Ali, Minnesota
 Muiz Abunoura, N. Carolina
 Beshir Bakar, Washington, D.C.
 Khalid al-Khalifa Abdullahi, Washington, D.C.
 Dr. Afaf Omar, N. Carolina
 Saadia Alkhalifa abdullahi, Washington, D.C.
 Abu Bakr Sidahmed, UAE~
 Mohammed Al-Khatim, Pennsylvania
 Omar Idris, Pennsylvania
 Ahmad Al-Mardi, Texas
 Aida Aljabri, Pennsylvania
 Haitham Tawfiq, Pennsylvania
 Murtada Al-Basha, Texas

==================================================================*.*

Tracy Quan

e-mail 			<quan@xxxxxxxxx>
voice   (US area code) 	212.969.0931