South African groups urged the boycott of the Miss...

South African groups urged the boycott of the Miss World contest due to be held in Nigeria in November. The global pageant has come under fire from rights groups and beauty queens the world over because they say it is being hosted in a country that tramples on women's rights. The flurry of criticism follows the recent death-by-stoning sentence handed out by an Islamic court to Amina Lawal who is accused of adultery for bearing a child out of wedlock.
The United Democratic Movement's (UDM) Women's Organisation called on Sun International, Miss South Africa pageant owners, to stop delaying Miss South Africa's boycott of the global beauty pageant.
"South Africa should not legitimise any event that is hosted by the country that has no respect for the life and the rights of women.
"If the Miss World pageant is about celebrating the women of the World, it must be hosted in a country that shows respect for women," the UDM said.
Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon also called on Sun International to boycott the pageant "unless and until the death sentence against Lawal is commuted".
Leon called on president Thabo Mbeki to speak out, in his capacity as chairperson of the African Union, against the planned execution of Lawal.
"The cornerstone of the African Union's founding charter is respect for human rights. Nigeria is a leading member of the Union and its president a co-author of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad).
"President Mbeki should therefore urge Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo to ensure that Nigeria's federal courts intervene (in Lawal's case)," Leon said.