Think of Mogadishu, Somalia and what comes to mind? Perhaps Ridley Scott’s movie Black Hawk Down? Or perhaps the rampant Somalis pirates making a fortune out of hijacking ships?
Somalia is a country that has not had a functioning central government since 1991 when Somali warlords ousted former Somali president Mohamed Siad Barre and the country eventually descended into chaos.
In Mogadishu and southern Somalia, Sharia law applies. For example, in 2008, the Islamic courts there sentenced a 13-year-old gang rape victim to death by stoning in the southern city of Kismayo in front of 1,000 spectators. It seems very difficult to charge the rapists because Sharia law requires a minimum of 4 persons who actually saw the sexual activity taking place at the same time. Without these witnesses, then the only way to charge a rapist is if he agrees to deliver a freely given confession. Given human tendency not to confess, most time an alleged rapist will be found not guilty because there is no proof of him raping the victim.
On the other hand, if the rape victim becomes pregnant, she can be assumed to be guilty of extra-marital sexual activity and can be executed by stoning (in countries that practise death by stoning) . If she claims that her pregnancy is caused by her being a rape victim, and if she is then unable to prove her case, she will probably receive severe punishment, because she would be assumed guilty of making a false accusation.
But if you are a rapist in a Muslim country where Sharia law is operating, you will be glad that you are caught in Somalia for the rape offense. You will likely be caned. But the way the caning sentence is carried out in Somalia is such that the convicted offender is probably laughing during the caning. The lashing is administered through the clothes of the accused using a stick which will not break his skin.
A few days ago, the Islamic court in Somalia sentenced 3 robbers to amputation of their limbs. These 3 accused had admitted robbing passengers on board a truck heading to Kismayo. Once the Sharia Court delivered the guilty verdict, the sentence was immediately carried out six machetes wielding masked men belonging to the Al-Shabaab hardline Islamic group in front of 400 people who heard the 3 robbers screaming loudly as their limbs were amputated. Witnesses said that two of the men had both a hand and a foot cut off and a third had only a foot cut off after the Islamic court realized he was already disabled. The United States has labelled the Al-Shabaab group as proxy for Al-Qaeda.
After the amputations, Sheikh Hassan Ya’qub, spokesman for the Kismayo Islamic administration simply issued this statement: “Three young men were cut off their hands and foot similarly, because they were captured in robbing action. We carried out this amputation according to the Islamic sharia.”
Think about it. Why are women discriminated? A rapist can get away scot free for lack of a minimum of 4 witnesses to the rape. And if there are at 4 witnesses, he will end up being caned in a painless manner. The rape victim meanwhile faces the death penalty by stoning. And how come the Somalia Islamic Courts do not allow accused to be represented by lawyers, and worst, do not allow appeals against the court judgments? Why the haste in carrying out the punishments like amputations of limbs and death by stoning?
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For the unfortunate victim, however, it is far better to be robbed than to be raped.
Ok, I get it, it’s far better to rape than to rob.