Lady Sun

Stop Stoning Forever in Iran

So, here’s some info about the campaign we’ve just started in Iran.

A group of feminist activists and academics inside Iran and in Diaspora formed an international board to organize a campaign against stoning in Iran. It became urgent to initiate this campaign after a group of volunteer attorneys in Iran found in their investigations that two women have been killed through stoning this year, without being noticed by anybody. In fact, the media were banned from mentioning the word “stoning” in their news coverage of these women’s death, and they were reported as being executed. (In Iran execution only takes place by being hanged, and stoning is not considered execution legally. Also, a stoning sentence can’t be converted to execution, i.e. death by being hanged.) So, what does this mean? It means these two women were buried alive in a pit with their sheet-covered head exposed outside, smashed by marble-sized rocks thrown by the members of the community until they died gradually and painfully. What was their crime? They committed adultery. (Married people who have sex with someone other than their spouse will be sentenced to stoning in Iran.)

The same volunteer attorneys found 11 more people, two men and nine women, sentenced to stoning and awaiting their brutal death in Iran’s prisons.

After weeks of consulting through mailing lists and online groups, the campaign team prepared an online petition addressing the Judiciary Chief and the Parliament’s Speaker, asking them to abolish practice of stoning in Iran forever. Stoning is such a horrific act and it has had such a shame for Iranian government’s image, that the Judiciary Chief claimed that nobody would be stoned in Iran any more last year. However, after it was revealed that these two women were actually killed by stoning, it was clear that the Judiciary Chief’s word of mouth is not reliable. So, the campaign is now demanding an official and legal permanent ban to stoning.

What to do

Here’s the online petition (prepared by the campaign group) that you can sign.

Amnesty International has also prepared an action, through which you can send a letter to Iran’s supreme leader and president.

Along with these petitions, the campaign team is spreading the word in International media, giving interviews, and is preparing to hold a seminar about stoning. They might even later look for forming a truth committee, but that depends on political conditions in Iran. They are also looking for Islamic scholars who argue that stoning can be removed from the law.

International pressure on Iran’s government will certainly help to abolish this inhumane practice. As much as the petition can work, talking about it and sending the message to Iranian government, that the world is condemning this practice and Iran’s government for this practice, will help too.

Do you know a brave journalist who might challenge Iranian authorities in their foreign trips about stoning? Let them know about this campaign, ask them to question the Iranian authorities about stoning in Iran, and ask them to question the authorities about the campaign and what Iran’s government has to say about the campaign.

Do you know any influential European politician? Let them know about this campaign. Ask them to put pressure on Iran and enquire about this campaign. (I don’t think American politicians’ help would be a good idea, based on the screwed-up relations of the two states.)

Do you have a blog, a website, or a news resource? Write about the campaign, spread the word, and give links to the petition.

Here’s an English page we have exclusively made for this campaign and you can read news updates on the campaign:
http://www.meydaan.com/Stoning/default.aspx

Here’s the link to the petition:
http://www.meydaan.com/Stoning/petition.aspx?cid=46&pid=9

Here’s the info about the history, goals, and the members of the campaign.
http://www.meydaan.com/Stoning/aboutcamp.aspx?cid=46

Please help us abolish stoning in Iran forever.

Thanks,
Sanam Dolatshahi
Investigation and Advocacy Committee member,
International Campaign to Stop Stoning Forever in Iran

P.S. 1- Meydaan.com, our campaign website got filtered in Iran today. Read about it on Reporters without Borders.

P.S. 2 - Here are some info about a previous stoning case that was successfully stopped:

Iranian Woman Sentenced to Death by Stoning

Update on Stoning Sentence of Ashraf Kalhori

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