Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-03-13-Speech-4-166"
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"en.20030313.8.4-166"2
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".
Madam President, honourable Members, the Commission does, of course, share Parliament's concerns about the sort of punishments inflicted in northern Nigeria under Sharia law. In a whole array of cases, among them that of Amina Lawal, the Commission has made representations to the Nigerian Government, and our President Prodi himself has made a direct approach to President Obasanjo, who has also expressed his opposition to these punishments and pointed out that every complainant has the right to take his or her case to the Supreme Court.
The Commission also welcomes the statement made last year by the Nigerian Minister of Justice, to the effect that it was not right to discriminate against Muslims by imposing different sentences on them for one and the same crime. As various Members of this House have already mentioned, Amina Lawal's appeal is due to be heard on 25 March. Amina Lawal has been allowed legal counsel and will also have the opportunity to take her appeal to an even higher court if necessary.
We are, through our delegation in Abuja, following the progress of this case as closely as possible, but we refrain from direct references to cases that are still
preferring to bring pressure on the Nigerian federal government to at last abolish the death penalty for all offences.
Sharia law is a complex and delicate issue in Nigeria. The position is also very problematic in terms of constitutional law, because the state's Sharia law is in contravention of both the constitution and the international obligations entered into by the Nigerian federal government.
Socially speaking, Nigeria is divided between the Muslim north and the Christian south, and the elections that are to be held next year mean that the issue is politically highly charged and very sensitive.
A study funded by the Commission has concluded that Sharia's application in criminal law is made even more problematic by the fact that the criminal laws are badly framed and applied without consistency by poorly trained judges.
The EU has elaborated a Common Position on human rights issues in Nigeria, drafted representations by the Troika on the death penalty, and made an official statement to the Commission on Human Rights.
The closest possible attention is being paid to Nigeria's adherence to the principles of the Cotonou Agreement. The Commission is also itself immediately involved and, last year, concluded with Nigeria a Country Strategy Paper and a cooperation programme with Nigeria, key areas of which include human rights and good governance, and in which provision is also made for support to be given to civil society.
Nigeria is, moreover, one of the focus countries of the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights, and a range of projects in support of governmental and judicial reform is shortly to be adopted. It is in this way that we hope to be able to have a positive influence on the way in which the Nigerian federal government and Nigeria's federal states understand and put into practice fundamental human rights, under which influence it is to be hoped that things will take a turn for the better."@en1
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