Amnesty urges stop to mother's execution

Amnesty International appealed to Yemen's government for leniency for a Yemeni mother who faces execution by firing squad two years after the death sentence was postponed because she became pregnant.

The human rights group urged concerned people around the world to contact Yemen's President General Ali Abdullah Saleh and the government to appeal for the death sentence on Amina Ali Abduladif, due to be carried out on May 2, to be commuted.

It said Abduladif had been convicted of murdering her husband in January 1998 when she was just 16 although the Yemeni Criminal Code prohibits the death penalty against anyone convicted of crimes committed under the age of 18.

She had been tortured to make her confess and has since maintained her innocence, the group said, while her lawyer said her pregnancy was due to her being raped by a guard at al-Mahaweet jail.

The child, whose sex was not disclosed, has been in the care of Abduladif in prison.

"While Amnesty International recognises the right and responsibility of governments to bring to justice those suspected of recognisably criminal offences, it is unconditionally opposed to the death penalty," it said.

Amnesty also called on the government of Yemen to investigate the circumstances of the pregnancy and make sure she was treated properly.

- REUTERS