A panel of three Soudi judges sentenced to death Rizana, a young Muslim maid from Sri Lanka.

President order to stop killing of dogs
09 July, 2007 - Published 17:14 GMT

Deadline closes on Rizana's appealInternational rights watchdogs have urged Saudi king to help safeguard a Sri Lankan girl sentenced to death for the murder of a four-month-old Saudi baby.
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and Amnesty International (AI) also requested Sri Lankan authorities to lodge an appeal on Rizana Nafeek’s behalf before the deadline of the sixteenth of July.
A panel of three judges sentenced to death Rizana, a young Muslim maid from Sri Lanka.
She was given a month to appeal which expires in a week's time. She now faces execution, which in Saudi Arabia means beheading.
Minor sentenced
The rights watchdogs quote the maid as claiming the baby choked on its milk and she was unable to revive it.
They say that she's had no legal representation throughout the whole affair and, crucially, that she was a minor at the time of the baby's death.
The agency who recruited her allegedly falsified her papers to add six years to her age.
But her birth certificate which was not presented to the court shows she was seventeen at the time.
Amnesty International (AI) recalls that Saudi Arabia is a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)
This "expressly prohibits the execution of offenders for crimes committed when they were under 18 years old" said AI.
The Hong-Kong based Asian Human Rights Commission said what had happened was an enormous tragedy, but it wanted to prevent an innocent teenager being executed.
It says that it will provide one third of the legal fee for an appeal in Saudi Arabia.
In a letter to the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Palitha Kohona, the AHRC urged him to seriously consider funding legal support for Miss Nafeek.
Sri Lanka embassy
The letter reads: “We are writing this to bring to your kind notice the pitiful plight of this young woman and to urge you to take all appropriate actions to ensure that she will be provided with legal assistance to enable her to file this appeal”.
The Sri Lanka embassy in Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, says the officials are working onto appeal against the death sentence.
“The Embassy of Sri Lanka is actively pursuing all possible avenues, including the judicial appeal against the death sentence, to save her life,” a statement issued by the embassy said.
However, Sri Lankan officials are yet to receive copies of official documents related to the sentence, ambassador Adam MJ Sadiq told BBC Sandeshaya.

President order to stop killing of dogs
(LeN-2007 July 09, 6.00pm)

Presidential Secretariat said today President Mahinda Rajapaksa has directed that his order to stop killing the killing of dogs for the control of dog population and rabies eradication should be continued further.
The Minister for Local Government and Provincial Councils was informed by the President shortly before Poson Full Moon last month that the "No-Kill" policy introduced by him to mark the 2550th Buddha Jayanthi celebrations last year should be continued, and that humane methods such a sterilization and immunization of dogs should be used more extensively for the eradication of rabies and dog population control.
The President gave this directive when he was apprised of the latest situation regarding the implementation of the "No Kill" policy by "Sathva Mithra" - Friends of Animals.
It has been brought to the notice of the President that after Cabinet approval was obtained for a new Rabies Act, arrangements were being made by some local authorities and public health institutions to resume the killing of dogs for rabies eradication and control of dog population.
President Rajapaksa has also informed the Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils that no license fees should be levied in the rural areas for the registration of dogs, and also that in no instance should non-registered dogs be killed.
The 'No-Kill" policy on dogs was introduced by Presidential directive in May last year in keeping with the President's commitment to the eradication of cruelty to animals, and following policy statement in the Mahinda Chinthana - "I consider cruelty to animals a disgrace on humanity. I therefore propose to amend, without delay, the outdated laws on prevention of cruelty to animals".
Until the killing of dogs by local authorities was stopped by Presidential Directive last year, dogs were killed under the Rabies Ordinance introduced by British colonial rulers more than 100 years ago.
In keeping with the directive to continue with the "No Kill" Policy, the Ministry of Local Government and Provincial Councils is expected to expand work on the sterilization and immunization of dogs. It will also obtain the participation of animal welfare organizations, religious organizations and the private sector in carrying out this work.