III 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 711 

Condemning the tragic and senseless death by stoning of a 13-year-old girl 

from Somalia. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

NOVEMBER 20, 2008 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. SNOWE, Ms. LANDRIEU, Ms. 

STABENOW, and Mrs. CLINTON) submitted the following resolution; which 

was considered and agreed to 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the tragic and senseless death by stoning of 

a 13-year-old girl from Somalia. 

Whereas a child from Somalia, identified as Aisha Ibrahim 

Duhulow, was raped by 3 men, and when her family reported the rape to authorities of the al-Shabaab militia 

that control the city of Kismayu, Somalia, she was accused of adultery and ordered to be stoned; 

Whereas, in October 2008, Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was 

stoned to death by 50 militant men before 1,000 witnesses in a public stadium; 

Whereas al-Shabaab, some of whose members are affiliated 

with al Qaeda, is a violent and brutal extremist group 

that has used intimidation and committed human rights 

violations to undermine the Transitional Federal GovernVerDate Aug 31 2005 02:53 Nov 21, 2008 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR711.ATS SR711

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•SRES 711 ATS 

ment of Somalia and threaten activists in civil society 

working to bring about peace through political dialogue 

and reconciliation; 

Whereas, on February 29, 2008, Secretary of State 

Condoleezza Rice designated al-Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189) and placed 

the organization on the list of specially designated global 

terrorists established under the International Emergency 

Economic Powers Act and initiated under Executive 

Order 13224; 

Whereas the 2007 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Somalia, released on March 11, 2007, by the Department of State, cited the ‘‘poor human rights situation’’ in Somalia, including ‘‘unlawful and politically motivated killings, official impunity, and discrimination and 

violence against women’’; 

Whereas stoning is a grave and serious violation of human 

rights law, in which the victim is killed in an especially 

brutal way; 

Whereas stoning is practiced particularly on girls and women 

accused of adultery; 

Whereas the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has condemned the death of Aisha 

Ibrahim Duhulow and called on the United States Government to join other states in speaking out decisively in 

international fora against such grave human rights 

abuses; and 

Whereas the United States Government continues to support 

the efforts of those working to transform the troubled region of Somalia through commitment to sound human 


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•SRES 711 ATS 

rights practices, democratic and representative government, economic recovery, and lasting peace and reconciliation: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) condemns the tragic and senseless death by 

3 stoning of Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow; 

4 (2) urges the international community to join 

5 the Senate in speaking out against this brutal act; 

6 and 

7 (3) urges the Transitional Federal Government 

8 of Somalia— 

9 (A) to undertake robust efforts to protect 

10 women and children and to prevent acts of in11 stitutionalized violence against women in Soma12 lia; 

13 (B) to work to strengthen the rule of law 

14 as part of the effort by the Transitional Federal 

15 Government of Somalia to establish its author16 ity; 

17 (C) to promote equal and fair treatment of 

18 women; and 

19 (D) to end the culture of impunity in So20 malia. 

Æ 


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