Safiya HussainiNigeria 
Safiya Hussaini, a mother of four, was sentenced to death by stoning in October 2001. Pregnancy outside marriage is sufficient proof of adultery, according to the harsh practice of Sharia in 12 of northern Nigeria's states. An Islamic Court in the northern Nigerian state of Sokoto acquitted her of adultery in March 2002. The appeal court in Sokoto found that the death sentence, originally handed down by an Islamic court in October 2001, had been baseless. The court ruled that the adultery provisions of Sokoto's Sharia law could not be used against Safiya, as the alleged adultery must have taken place before the introduction of Sharia law in Sokoto. Amnesty International and the Nigerian group BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights issued a joint statement expressing deep concern about the Sharia-based penal code, which provided "cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments" and discrimination on grounds of gender and religion. The current practice and many regulations in the new Sharia law violated "many international human rights instruments ratified by Nigeria," the groups said.
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