Jafar Kiani Stoned on July 5, Mokarrameh Ebrahimi in Eminent Danger

Iran Denies International Commitments to Stop Stoning

Jafar Kiani Stoned on July 5,

Mokarrameh Ebrahimi in Eminent Danger

Jafar Kiani was stoned in Aghche-kand, a small village near Takistan, Ghazvin, on Thursday July 5th. His partner, Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, could have a similar fate if we do not act now!

Jafar Kiani and his partner, Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, have been in prison for more than 11 years for an adulterous relationship and having two children. The couple’s children live in prison with their mother. The Stop Stoning Forever Campaign broke the news of their case on June 19 as they were scheduled to be stoned together on Thursday, June 21, 2007. After the news was spread, the Iranian judiciary officials were faced with a strong wave of national and international opposition and announced that the order of stoning would be stayed.

The people of Takistan and their parliamentary representative, Rajab Rahmani, were opposed to the execution of the sentence in Takistan which led to its carrying out in Aghche-kand.

The judge who issued the stoning sentence, Mr. Eslahi, believed that the couple’s marriage had not been legitimate based on his own “knowledge” of the case. The stoning sentences were similarly issued.

According to the Iranian law, the judge who has issued the sentence would have to be present in person to throw the first stone. Some unofficial sources have reported that only a few of the villagers participated in the stoning and the sentence was mostly carried out by the officials and the related service men.

The judiciary officials have so far neither confirmed nor denied the stoning of Jafar Kiani. Silence seems to be the current policy of some judiciary officials, including Hassan Ghasemi, the Head of Judiciary Office in Ghazvin, who has told the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign activists to contact Alireza Jamshidi, the official Iranian judiciary spokesman, for answers to their questions.

The Stop Stoning Forever Campaign is asking all citizens of the world to raise their opposition to stoning and try to save the life of Mokarrameh Ebrahimi from stoning. Please contact the Iranian officials in Tehran and Takistan, Gahzvin and/or Iranian embassy in other countries (please see the contact information below).

Further detailed information will be provided as campaign activists are trying to obtain it. To contact campaign activists in the US or Iran please email Soheila Vahdati or Shadi Sadr .

Please note that possible corrections to the offices’ phone numbers in Iran will be posted on the campaign website: www.stopstoning.org.
Takistan Judiciary Office
Tel:
+98 282 36816
Ghazvin Judiciary Office
This office is open from 7:15 am to 2:15 pm Tehran time.
Tel:
+98 281 2229864

Stop Stoning Forever Campaign

Send this petition to: The Head of JudiciaryThe Head of Parliament
Subject:Petition to Eradicate the Law of Stoning
Petition:
To: His Excellency Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi ShahroudiCc: Mr. Golam-Ali Haddad-Adel, the leader of the Iranian Parliament

The act of punishing people by stoning them to death in today’s world is such an unacceptable and inhuman act of brutality that even the members of the government are ashamed of admitting to doing it, and have publicly denied that this merciless practice takes place in Iran. Despite the government’s denial, this penalty is a sanctioned part of the Islamic Penal Code of Iran and it is being carried out without any legal obstacles.

We, the undersigned are extremely alarmed that the punishment of stoning to death has been adopted by the country’s legal system as a reasonable and acceptable form of retribution. Although, in December of 2002, your Excellency placed a ban on carrying out this type of sentence, in reality stonings have continued to take place in different parts of the country. In May 2006, in the city of Mashhad, a woman Mahboubeh M. and a man Abbas H. were both stoned to death.

Prior to carrying out the stoning, prior to their death, these two people were treated as if they were dead. In accordance with the Islamic tradition, their bodies were washed as if they were lifeless corpses, and wrapped in the kafan or white shroud. Then their wrapped bodies were buried in the ground, Mahboubeh’s body was buried up to her shoulders, and Abbas was buried up to his waist. The crowd, who had gathered to stone the two to death slowly as specified by law, then targeted them with their stones. All this took place without any mention of it in the public media of the country.
Apart from the above mentioned two cases, at least eleven people, nine women and two men as listed below have been condemned to be stoned to death. Their situation is grave. It is also possible that there are other people who have been condemned to death by stoning and we are not aware of it.
1 Ms. Parisa A. (Adel Abad Prison, Shiraz)2 Ms. Kobra N. (Tabriz Prison, Tabriz)3 Ms. Kheireyeh V. (Sepidar Prison, Ahwaz)4 Ms. Iran A. (Sepidar Prison, Ahwaz)5 Ms.Malak (Shamameh) Ghorbani (Orumieh Prison, Orumieh)6 Ms.Hajieh Esmailvand (Jolfa Prison, Jolfa)7 Ms.Soghra Molawyi (Varamin Prison, Varamin)8 Ms.Ashraf Kallhori (Evin Prison, Tehran)9 Ms. Fatemeh (Tehran)10 Mr.Abdollah Farivar (Sari Prison, Sari)-Male11 Mr. Najaf A. (Abdel-Abad Prison, Shiraz)-Male
According to Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, signed and ratified by Iran in 1975, “in countries which have not abolished the death penalty, sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes”. Article 7 of the same covenant states that “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment.” Despite ratifying the above covenant, the Islamic penal code gives the judges the right to sentence the accused to death by stoning even when the crime of adultery has not been proved according to the same penal code’s standards and requirements. Article #105 of the Islamic penal code gives the judges the absolute right to condemn the accused to death by stoning solely based on the judge’s subjective interpretation of the case.
We the undersigned demand and stress the need to change all laws contrary to human rights. We believe there are no crimes that deserve the punishment of stoning to death and we insist that this inhumane practice should be abolished forever.

Please sign the petition