The Tanzania Gender Net-working Programme (TGNP) and...

The Tanzania Gender Net-working Programme (TGNP) and Feminist Activism Coalition (FemAct) urged Tanzania to boycott the forthcoming Miss World beauty pageant to be held in Nigeria in protest of against country's death penalty by stoning for women convicted of adultery.The NGOs were reacting to comments by Tanzanian Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete, who said that a Nigerian appellate court's confirmation of Amina Lawal's death sentence would not lead the country to boycott the contest.Kikwete had said that "pulling out of this event is tantamount to insulting the Nigerians whom we enjoy warm relations with.""The comments (by the minister) contradicts all international and regional declarations on human and women rights, which Tanzania had signed and ratified," the NGO statement, signed by top TGNP official Mary Rusimbi, said."The death of this woman (Amina Lawal) by stoning will be a clear indication of women's oppression," the NGOs said, adding that they were shocked by Tanzania's continued support for the event.