Iran: Death by stoning suspended, cases under review

Submitted by wluml on Wed, 08/06/2008 - 23:00

Source:

BBC / WLUML

Iran has suspended the punishment of death by stoning; Activists remain concerned

A judiciary spokesman said four people sentenced to die by stoning had had their sentences commuted and that all other cases had been put under review.

Lawyers and human rights campaigners have said at least eight women and a man are awaiting the punishment.

Stoning is the penalty for crimes such as adultery under Iranian law, but it is rarely carried out. The last such execution was reportedly last year.

Amnesty International called on Iran in January to abolish what it called a "horrific practice, designed to increase the suffering" of those condemned.

The country's penal code stipulates that before carrying out the punishment, men should be buried up to their waists and women up to their chests. The stones used must be large enough to cause the condemned pain, but not sufficient to kill immediately.

Amnesty also said a disproportionate number of those sentenced to death by stoning were women because they were not treated equally before the law and were particularly vulnerable to unfair trials.

'Under review'

Three people are said to have been stoned for adultery since a moratorium was called in 2002 by the judiciary chief, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi-Shahroudi.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Tehran says this is because the authorities have been reluctant to completely abolish a penalty they say is endorsed by Islamic law.

Although stoning is not prescribed in the Koran, some Muslim scholars say it is in the traditions of the Prophet Muhammad.

Nevertheless, an Iranian judiciary spokesman said the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had commuted the sentences of two people to 10 years in jail. Two others would receive lashes, he said.

"The issued verdicts for all of these cases will not be carried out for now," Alireza Jamshidi said, according to Iranian state media.

"In a few other cases, these people have asked for forgiveness and their request... is under review," he added.

Human rights campaigners recently warned that eight women aged between 27 and 43 were sentenced to death by stoning for convictions including prostitution, incest and adultery. A 50-year-old male music teacher was condemned to a similar fate for having sex with one of his students.

Source: BBC News

5 August 2008

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Press Release from the Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women!
8 August, 2008
Subject: Iran: Death by stoning suspended…but still legal!

The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women! (SKSW Campaign) welcome the news that the sentence of four Iranians to die by stoning has recently been commuted by the Iranian judiciary. The news was announced by the spokesman of the judiciary, Alireza Jamshidi, who also announced that the sentence of all other cases are also under review.

However, the SKSW Campaign could not celebrate quite yet. Punishment by stoning remains lawful under the new draft criminal code of Iran. Although the draft code stipulates that the prosecutor or judge may determine if stoning will reflect poorly upon the regime in a particular case and may therefore commute the sentence to execution or whipping, there are no standards by which the judge or the prosecutor could base his decision. Neither is there a clear-cut definition of the authority of the judge or prosecutor. The ambiguity of the law in this regard means that anyone is at risk of being arbitrarily sentenced to die by stoning. “Don’t forget. One cannot remove the punishment of stoning from the law” Mr. Jamshidi was quoted during his press interview on 4 August 2008, according to Sanaz Allah Bedashti, a reporter for www.meydaan.net.

Stoning is the penalty for crimes such as adultery under Iranian law. The last officially reported stoning in Iran in 2006 drew strong criticism from human rights groups, women’s movements and the international community. There are at least eight women and one man who have been sentenced to die by stoning based on various convictions including prostitution, incest and adultery. Two have been granted amnesty, two have had their sentences reduced to imprisonment and/or lashes and the further pending five cases have now been placed under review and are currently being investigated.

Mr. Jamshidi announced that there were nine cases of individuals sentenced to stoning, of which two were pardoned on behalf of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. However, according to the Network of Volunteer Lawyers in a separate press interview held two weeks ago, the actual number of cases is unknown. Members of the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign and the Network of Volunteer Lawyers are concerned that unless they make visible these yet unknown cases of stoning, authorities may carry out further death by stoning sentences without recourse or public awareness.

The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women! calls upon the Iranian authorities to absolutely and unequivocally make stoning illegal in the laws of Iran, and to ensure that this measure is upheld within the judicial system. The inclusion of stoning as a form of punishment must be withdrawn from the draft Criminal Code. We also call upon the legal and judicial system to implement the existing ban on stoning, which has been in place since 2002. Furthermore, we urge the Iranian authorities to make an account of how many of those who were sentenced to die by stoning are still in state custody and to identify them by their names and location. We ask that all persons charged with ‘adultery’ be immediately pardoned and released.

For further information please write to info@stop-stoning.org and visit www.wluml.org and www.stop-stoning.org

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