YEMEN. AMNESTY PUTS ON PRESSURE TO HALT EXECUTION OF YOUNG WOMAN

Amnesty International piled pressure on Yemen to halt the planned execution of Amina Ali Abdulatif, a young woman convicted of murdering her husband when she was 16 -- under the legal age to be sentenced to death.
Abdulatif, 21, was due to die on May 2 after being found guilty in May 1999 of killing her husband a year earlier, her lawyer said.
The victim's cousin, Muhammad Ali Said Qaba'il, 26, was also convicted of the murder, although Amnesty did not know when he was due to be executed nor what his relationship had been with Abdulatif.
Abdulatif had already been hauled up before a firing squad in 2002 but her death was postponed after the prison authorities noticed that she was pregnant.
"According to her lawyer she had been raped by one of the guards at al-Mahaweet prison," the London-based human rights organisation said.
Abdulatif was allowed to give birth to the child, who was living with her in prison and was nearly two years old.
While acknowledging the need to punish crime, Amnesty International queried Yemen's justice system, which prohibited capital punishment against anyone convicted of crimes committed when they were under 18.
"The court of appeal did not consider Amina's age, and upheld the sentence in July 2001," Amnesty said in a statement.
"The Supreme Court upheld the sentence in July 2002, and the sentence was ratified by the president shortly afterwards."
In addition, the young woman's lawyer said Abdulatif was tortured into confessing the murder and has since maintained her innocence.
Amnesty International urged the people to contact the Yemeni authorities to ask them to commute the death sentence on Abdulatif and Qaba'il and also to voice their opposition to capital punishment. It also requested an investigation into the rape allegations.