Miss Ireland ‘must protest stoning’
Miss Ireland Lynda Duffy, 22, has refused to take a stand against Nigeria’s Islamic Sharia law, which allows women be sentenced to death by stoning, despite repeated calls.
A number of contestants have withdrawn from the competition in protest over the plight of Amina Lawal, a 31-year-old single mother who has gone into hiding while awaiting a second appeal against her death sentence.
Ms Lawal, was sentenced to death by stoning in August for having sex outside marriage by an Islamic court in northern Nigeria.
“I really appreciate the support of the contestants who have offered to boycott for me. But I urge them to come,” said Ms Lawal yesterday, adding that nothing would happen without God’s permission.
But despite the controversy surrounding the issue, the Irish marine science student said yesterday she preferred not to comment on the issue.
Speaking from her hotel in Nigeria, Ms Duffy said an announcement had been made by the Nigerian government that no stonings would go ahead so there was no need to protest.
“The government announced that no stoning would go ahead so it’s not being mentioned here at all,” she said.
However, Nigerian government officials are refusing to intervene directly to avoid alienating Muslim voters ahead of elections next year. “You have no fears in this country. Your safety is guaranteed. And I assure you, no Nigerian has been stoned or will be stoned,” Dubem Onyia, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, told the beauty queens when they arrived in the country on Monday night.
When asked about whether that promise could be trusted, Ms Duffy said she preferred not to comment. She also declined to comment on concerns raised over the practice of female genital mutilation.
Amnesty said it was not acceptable that Miss Ireland appeared to want to ignore the serious human rights issue. “She should either go and pay attention to it or she should not go on the basis of what’s happening and draw attention to it that way. We have called on the participants to act according to their morals and stand up for human rights,” said Amnesty campaigns manager Des Hogan.
Last year, 96 nations were represented in the contest but organisers said they expected 92 participants this year. A total of nine contestants had threatened to stay away and beauty queens from Costa Rica, Denmark, Switzerland, South Africa and Panama have all pulled out.
But the Miss World Irish office said Lynda would not take part in any protest but had gone to Nigeria to support the women awaiting death by stoning. “The very fact that she’s there is a vote of support for Amina,” said Helen Quinn of office.
