End execution by stoning in Iran

End execution by stoning in Iran | Amnesty International
A 42-year-old mother of two faces the punishment of death by stoning in Iran after authorities convicted her of adultery. And according to Mina Ahadi, who heads the International Committee Against Stoning and the Death Penalty, only international pressure can help save her.

As Ahadi told CNN: "Legally it's all over. It's a done deal. Sakineh can be stoned at any minute."
The woman, Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani, who is from Tabriz, was convicted of "adultery while being married" in 2006 and has already received a punishment of 99 lashes. Should the execution go forward, Ashtiani will be buried up to her chest (for men it is to the waist) and then pelted with stones that are large enough to inflict severe damage but no so large as to kill the person instantly, says Amnesty International, citing Article 104 of Iran's Penal Code.

Amnesty International, citing Ashtiani's case among others, called for Iran to halt all executions last week
Go to this site to send a letter to the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Ali Larijani, urging him to end the use of stoning as a method of execution in Iran.

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End execution by stoning in Iran

Your Excellency,

I am writing to express my deep concern that individuals continue be sentenced to death by stoning in Iran.

At least eight women and three men are at risk of being stoned to death in Iran. In addition, at least six executions by stoning have been carried out in spite of the moratorium issued by the Head of the Judiciary in 2002. Execution by stoning aggravates the brutality of the death penalty and is a method specifically designed to increase the victim's suffering as the stones are deliberately chosen to be large enough to cause pain, but not so large as to kill the victim immediately.

I am aware that a draft law amending the Penal Code is currently before the Majles for approval. I understand that this bill proposes an amendment to the law on stoning, so that if it is regarded as being in the national interest that an individual’s sentence of stoning should not be implemented, the sentence can be suspended at the request of the Public Prosecutor with the agreement of the Head of the Judiciary.

I welcome these steps towards reform, but nonetheless I urge your government, as a State party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,to ensure that any legislation eventually passed is in line with Iran’s obligations under international law, so that no one in Iran risks the death penalty for having consensual sexual relations in private.

An immediate moratorium on executions by stoning should be enforced until these changes can become law. All individuals currently under sentence of death by stoning in Iran should have their sentences commuted immediately.

Yours sincerely,