You are Cordially Incited to Activism:  UPDATE -- Amina Lawal Set to be Stoned to Death June 3rd

Please note the New York Times article by Somini Sengupta, “When Do-Gooders Don't Know What They're Doing”, regarding the sentencing of Amina Lawal in Nigeria.

Also take special note of the pop-up at the site linked above, http://www.amnistiaporsafiya.org/.  The pop-up issues a clarification of the status of this particular situation, both in Spanish and in English.

It’s not clear that any effort to convey protest to the Nigerian government will be effective; the NYT article infers that protests may actually be more harmful than good.

This is an entirely absurd situation:

-- The woman in this case, who may or may not have been a consenting adult (it’s not clear from facts I’ve read), is being punished with a disproportional death sentence while the male partner/perpetrator is unscathed by prosecution;

-- The Nigerian government has not been able to consistently prevent miscarriages of justice against women in cases like this, as illustrated in the NYT article;

-- Local Nigerian governments are highly unstable and temperamental, likely to mete punishment without due process or denying appeals, as illustrated in the NYT article.

Based on the confusion, misunderstandings, potential misinformation and cultural differences, we so-called “do-gooders” have no choice but to rely on international organizations that specialize in these kinds of cases, like Amnesty International.

I encourage you to monitor this situation through Amnesty International, take action as your conscience dictates.

Standing by idly and watching is no real, moral solution, for real “do-gooders”.  Perhaps NYT’s Sengupta could report on options as well, instead of merely indicting activists with conscience.

This particular “do-gooder” has no faith that ANY government will step in and prevent the death of a woman in these circumstances without moral or financial compulsion through public pressure.