International Human Rights Watch urged Nigerian government...

International Human Rights Watch urged Nigerian government authorities to ensure that courts refrain from sentencing people to cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments that are prohibited by international law. They appealed to President Olusegun Obasanjo to ensure that other death sentences passed by Sharia courts in the nation are also commuted. The organisation pointed out that trials under the Sharia legal Code in northern Nigeria have often been characterized by an absence of due process, since judges are poorly trained, and many defendants are left with no legal representation.