By Ryan Aliman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
BAMAKO, Mali – A 15 year old girl was publicly whipped 60 times in Timbuktu three days ago for speaking to a person of the opposite sex.
Ansar Dine, the rebel group who currently controls Timbuktu and the rest of Northern Mali, convicted her of speaking to the opposite sex which is allegedly forbidden in Islam. The teenage girl was caught standing alongside a group of men on the street. Ansar Dine members contend that she was warned repeatedly to stop what she was doing, but the girl refused to listen. “The Islamists charged that the girl was warned five times by the Islamist police, but she continued speaking to men on the street. After the hearing, the Islamists gave 60 lashes to the girl,” Ousmane Maiga, a Timbuktu resident relayed to the Associated Press on Monday.
The lashing took place at around 11:00 in the morning local time in front of the police headquarters in downtown Timbuktu. “The population did not turn out in large numbers to attend this flogging,” Maiga added.
This is just one in a series of incidents revealing the harsh and grim state of women in the country. Recent reports have shown that after the enforcement of an extremist version of the Sharia law in Northern Mali, there has been an increasing number of human rights violations particularly aimed at women.
Last Wednesday, after his visit to Mali, U.N. Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic reported that Islamic extremists are currently compiling a list of unmarried mothers. “It is frightening to hear lists are being compiled of women who are either pregnant or have children and are not married and we do not know what is going to happen to them … We do not know what will happen with those lists, but certainly women were scared that there might be some action taken against them,” he said.
According to local residents Simonovic interviewed during his trip, they feared that women who have had children out of wedlock, or who were unmarried and pregnant, will face severe punishments such as stoning, amputations and executions. Another possible fate for these listed women is to be forced into marriage. After meeting with government officials, community leaders and displaced Malians, Simonovic found out that forced marriages are becoming prevalent in the region. “Wives” are sold for less than $1,000. It is also a common practice among “husbands” to resell their “wives” — a practice Simonovic described as “a smokescreen for enforced prostitution and rapes that are taking place.”
For further information, please see:
Malaysian Digest – Teenage Girl Lashed 60 Times for ‘Speaking to Men in the Street’ – 18 October 2012
Nine News – Mali teen whipped for talking to men on street – 18 October 2012
Huffington Post – Mali Girl Reportedly Whipped For Speaking To Men – 15 October 2012
CNN – Fear grows as Mali extremists compile list of unmarried mothers – 13 October 2012
USA Today – Mali Islamists compiling list of unwed moms – 11 October 2012
