Amnesty International: Amina
Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 23 Apr 2003, and now archived in the Forum Library.
| rostie |
23 Apr 2003 |
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i know it don't belong here, but i find spirituality the most fitting section to put this here...i can't post in chat so here it goes:
in Nigeria they want to kill a women Amina, by stoning/lapidation, they already have rescued a women through a petition and Amnesty International try to do this again so it is important that as much as possible people sign this petition!!! so please send this by e-mail or other methods to as much people possible!
this is the link:
http://www.amnistiaporsafiya.org
you have to fill in
last name - name
province - country
accept
e-mailadres
accept.
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| Diana |
23 Apr 2003 |
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Oh gosh rostie! They still haven't freed this woman from her death sentence.
Amnesty often wields terrific power over governments. Thank you for providing this link.
I hope the urgency of the situation will encourage many of our members to sign this petition. It took me less than 30 seconds.
If we had been born in Nigeria, it could be us in this poor girl's shoes........
There, but for the grace of God, go I.
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| Hedera |
23 Apr 2003 |
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Thanks for posting this link, rostie!
It was in Spanish, though (I signed anyway, not too difficult to figure it out, especially with your explanations).
Is there any place were we can get the information in English?
I used to write letters with a group of people for Amnesty International, to plea for the release of political prisoners, etc. I'm trying to find out if there is anything like that near where I live now.
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| Maan |
23 Apr 2003 |
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This is so awful!
I have signed
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| Minderwiz |
23 Apr 2003 |
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You can also subscribe to Amnesty International or make regular donations - I have already signed up for the latter and they take a 'small' amount each month.
This is an organisation that deserves our support.
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| zorya |
24 Apr 2003 |
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it's good to be reminded of amina's plight.
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| Diana |
11 May 2003 |
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The Nigerian Supreme Court has ratified the condemnation.
Amina will be buried up to her neck and stoned to death.
A campaign such as this one that rostie pointed out to us in the first post of this thread, saved another woman from this same plight some time back.
Please take a minute of your time to try and save this woman from this ghastly end.
Please!
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| Maan |
12 May 2003 |
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This is so awful i have now words for this :(
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| Astraea |
12 May 2003 |
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I have been following developments in Amina's case for some time, and it is, indeed, too sickening for words. And it's the tip of the iceberg. The horrors of existence for entire groups of people -- and most other beings -- are almost unimaginabe. Amnesty International goes where most people would not only fear, but refuse, to tread. It is vitally important to support their work, and organizations with kindred aims. Amina -- and others in her own and similar positions -- must be kept in the public view, in the hope that eventually more people will awaken to the suffering shared by so many of the world's inhabitants, and demand that it stop.
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| Diana |
12 May 2003 |
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I lived in Nigeria in the early 80s. Such things would never have occurred then. It was not the easiest society to live in, but it was nice there, especially up in the North in the Muslim part. It was a friendly, happy environment, albeit poor and sometimes badly organised. Other pretty gruesome things occurred, such as riots where people would get chopped up with machetes and such-like. But these new developments are really very very scary. Makes one wonder and cry out: "Why? Where is God when we need him?"
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| Astraea |
12 May 2003 |
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Diana, I couldn't agree more. Globally, we seem to be witnessing a devolution in human consciousness -- and I don't think that this is only an appearance, based on better news reporting and wider coverage. I am old enough to have witnessed a great decline in compassion, civility, honesty and integrity on the world scene, and this has happened in only twenty years. In the midst of opportunity and plenty, three-quarters of the world population is circling the drain (to put it crudely). I find it appalling.
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| Diana |
12 May 2003 |
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As I post, there have been 124 views on this thread. So I would reckon that there have been at least 50 different people, if not more, who have read it.
I would be so curious to know how many of these people have taken the time to reach out to this woman and signed Amnesty's petition, before going on again to the Tarot threads. Perhaps many have signed without posting here that they did. I hope so.
I do hope that the fact that this thread has not received many posts is not a sign that people are indifferent to the plight of this woman. Indifference would be a frightening thought......... Very frightening. Much more frightening than getting a Tower card in one's daily reading. Much more worrying than getting a Tarot deck with a card missing.
Amina could be our sister........... or daughter. She could even have been you, had you been born in a different country.
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| wavebreaker |
12 May 2003 |
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Maybe it's the better news reporting that is making people numb... :( We see horrible things on tv and in the newspapers every day. Maybe people are getting "used" to it.
Personally, I will never get used to it. Because every single news story involves real people. Not anonymous people, but people like you and me, with families, with friends, with a life. A life that is being ruined.
And we can do something about it. Signing a petition or writing a letter or email may seem futile, but it helps. Not if just one or two people do it, but if hundreds, thousands of people do it, it works! The pen, or in this case, the keyboard, can be a very powerful weapon against injustice.
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| Astraea |
12 May 2003 |
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Diana, probably many more people have signed the petition than posted, because the horror of Amina's situation is such that words can't encompass it. Like you, it is my hope that all who see this thread will sign the petition. Not only could Amina be you, or I, or our sister or daughter -- someday, in view of the cyclic nature of karmic balancing, any of one us could well find ourselves in her precise situation.
Tarotlady, you're so right -- every action we take to make the world a better place has a powerful ripple effect. I tend to get discouraged when results don't come fast enough to save particular individuals (like Amina, apparently), but I agree with you that the pen and keyboard really are mightier than the sword.
What rankles, too, is that military troops seem to be very effective at recapturing POW's, but the same level of concerted effort doesn't seem to be anywhere in evidence when it comes to saving Amina and other souls in dire straits. The uneven expression of collective human goodwill troubles me immensely.
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| baba-prague |
13 May 2003 |
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Well, I signed, but then I've supported Amnesty for years.
I have a story about that. I used to live in quite a "swish" part of London, and Amnesty wanted to put up a statue in our local park (which was a good five minutes walk away). Our residents committee - mostly well-off people - got together to oppose this on the grounds that if there were vigils and so on around this statue then it would "bring down our property values". Unbelievable! Apart from the fact that actions such as vigils are often beautiful and by no means threatening to anyone, what a sense of priorities! I was horribly shocked and was glad to move out not long after.
Yes, we should all try to keep our ability to empathise with others, even when it's hard - rather than retreating into just considering our self-interest.
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| anjocoxo |
13 May 2003 |
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I have to say that this kind of human (dis)behaviour affects me deeply... I just whish I had the power to go to her jail and grab her from those mad men (because it has to be men) who are condemning a DIVORCED woman of having a baby (it's considered adultery). Where's this world gonna end? The part that makes me wanna cry out loud is when I know that the man (that also took part in doing the baby) only had to deny the relationship with amina to walk out free... while she has to be stonned to death, because she had sexual desire, sexual need that it is inherent to any human being, man or woman.
I better stop writing or I'll start crying... Let's just hope that Amnisty will make a good job again (I have received an e-mail with the Amnisty web site where we could put our name, so I did that a while ago, not now)
I'm sending my prayers to that woman...
Anjo (feeling totally frustrated)
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The Amnesty International: Amina thread was originally posted on 23 Apr 2003 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.
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