2010/08/14
Iran Iranians still facing death by stoning despite 'reprieve'
Iranians still facing death by stoning despite 'reprieve'
Saeed Kamali Dehghan and Ian Black Guardian.co.uk
An Iranian woman at a protest in Brussels highlights the barbarity of death by stoning, in which women are buried up to their necks in front of a crowd of volunteers and killed in a hail of rocks. Photograph: Thierry Roge/Reuters.
Twelve Iranian women and three men are on death row awaiting execution by stoning despite an apparent last-minute reprieve for a mother of two who had been facing the horrific sentence after being convicted of adultery.
Human rights groups and activists welcomed a wave of international publicity and protests over the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43, who was awaiting execution in the western Iranian town of Tabriz after what her lawyer called an unjust trial and a sham conviction.
The Iranian embassy in London said in a statement that "according to information from the relevant judicial authorities" the stoning would not go ahead. If confirmed it would be an victory for a brief but intense campaign that was first highlighted by the Guardian last week.
However, there are still concerns over her plight. In a previous case a prisoner who was to be stoned was instead executed by hanging.
Speaking to this paper Mohammadi Ashtiani's son Sajad, said his mother – whom he had spoken to by telephone – believed the pressure on her behalf might succeed, although he had not heard of any reprieve. "The campaign for her release is going very well," he said. "They gave me permission to talk to her and she was very thankful to the people of the world for supporting her. I'm very happy that so many have joined me in protesting this injustice. It was the first time in years I heard any hope in my mother's voice."
Without a reprieve, Mohammadi Ashtiani would have been buried up to her neck before being pelted with stones large enough to cause pain but not so large as to kill her immediately. Iran routinely censors information about executions, but all the 12 other women on death row have been convicted on adultery charges, as has one of the three men.
Azar Bagheri, 19, was arrested when she was 15 after her husband accused her of seeing another man. She has been subjected to mock stonings along with partial burial in the ground.
Ashraf Kalhori, 40, also sentenced to death by stoning, was forced to confess to a relationship with her husband's murderer, and has been in Tehran's Evin prison for seven years, according to her lawyer.
In one especially gruesome case, Maryam Ayubi, another alleged adulteress, fainted while being ritually washed before her execution in 2001 and was stoned to death while strapped to a stretcher. Outrage over that led to the marking of 11 July as the annual international day against stoning – which will see demonstrations at the Iran embassy in London.
Iranian activists say the tragedy is that the families of those sentenced to death often ignore them. "It doesn't matter to them whether the charge of adultery is true or not because the honour of the family is tainted so they forget the poor creature awaiting death," said Soheila Vahdati, who is now based in California.
"It's not possible to talk about these prisoners in public because their families don't want their names mentioned or their pictures published. Their families don't want to defend them neither. Mohammadi Ashtiani's case is amazing because her children are campaigning for her courageously and said that their mother is innocent."
Shammameh Ghorbani, who is awaiting stoning, begged not to be freed from prison because she feared being killed by her family.
Shadi Sadr, an acclaimed Iranian lawyer, said it was hard to know exactly how many people were still facing stoning. Last year the Iranian parliament passed a law banning it, but the powerful Guardian Council has been silent on the issue.
"Many women are kept in prison because the government is very scared of the public attention," Sadr said. "One of my clients has been there for eight years and her family have abandoned her."
Publicity helps. "The only reason the Iranian government has not carried out stoning sentences on all these people is that it is afraid of Iranian public reaction and international attention," said Sadr.
The embassy said in its statement: "This kind of punishment has rarely been implemented in Iran" and condemned media reports about the case as unreliable.
The 12 women on death row also include Mariam Ghorbanzadeh, 25, Iran Iskandari, 31, Kheyrieh Valania, 42, Sarimeh Sajadi, 30, Kobra Babaei, and Afsaneh R.
Mohammadi Ashtiani was convicted of having "illicit relationships" with two men. But her lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaie, insisted there was no evidence to justify an adultery conviction. As a member of Iran's Azerbaijani minority, her inability to understand the language of the court also prevented a fair trial, he said.
William Hague, the foreign secretary, added his voice to the outrage today, condemning a "medieval punishment that has no place in the modern world". He added: "The continued use of such a punishment in Iran demonstrates a blatant disregard for international human rights commitments ... as well as the interests of its people. I call on Iran to put an immediate stay to the execution of Ms Mohammadi Ashtiani on the charge of adultery and review the process by which she was tried, and her sentence.
"She has already faced the disgraceful punishment of 99 lashes for adultery; her execution would disgust and appal the watching world."
Actors Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Juliette Binoche and playwright Sir David Hare have backed the appeal to halt the stoning. John Bercow, the Commons speaker, made a rare statement condemning a "horrific" matter and a "grotesque abuse" of human rights.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party, requires states that have not yet abolished the death penalty to restrict its use to the "most serious crimes". The United Nations general assembly has called on all states to introduce a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
Saeed Kamali Dehghan and Ian Black Guardian.co.uk
Twelve Iranian women and three men are on death row awaiting execution by stoning despite an apparent last-minute reprieve for a mother of two who had been facing the horrific sentence after being convicted of adultery.
Human rights groups and activists welcomed a wave of international publicity and protests over the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, 43, who was awaiting execution in the western Iranian town of Tabriz after what her lawyer called an unjust trial and a sham conviction.
The Iranian embassy in London said in a statement that "according to information from the relevant judicial authorities" the stoning would not go ahead. If confirmed it would be an victory for a brief but intense campaign that was first highlighted by the Guardian last week.
However, there are still concerns over her plight. In a previous case a prisoner who was to be stoned was instead executed by hanging.
Speaking to this paper Mohammadi Ashtiani's son Sajad, said his mother – whom he had spoken to by telephone – believed the pressure on her behalf might succeed, although he had not heard of any reprieve. "The campaign for her release is going very well," he said. "They gave me permission to talk to her and she was very thankful to the people of the world for supporting her. I'm very happy that so many have joined me in protesting this injustice. It was the first time in years I heard any hope in my mother's voice."
Without a reprieve, Mohammadi Ashtiani would have been buried up to her neck before being pelted with stones large enough to cause pain but not so large as to kill her immediately. Iran routinely censors information about executions, but all the 12 other women on death row have been convicted on adultery charges, as has one of the three men.
Azar Bagheri, 19, was arrested when she was 15 after her husband accused her of seeing another man. She has been subjected to mock stonings along with partial burial in the ground.
Ashraf Kalhori, 40, also sentenced to death by stoning, was forced to confess to a relationship with her husband's murderer, and has been in Tehran's Evin prison for seven years, according to her lawyer.
In one especially gruesome case, Maryam Ayubi, another alleged adulteress, fainted while being ritually washed before her execution in 2001 and was stoned to death while strapped to a stretcher. Outrage over that led to the marking of 11 July as the annual international day against stoning – which will see demonstrations at the Iran embassy in London.
Iranian activists say the tragedy is that the families of those sentenced to death often ignore them. "It doesn't matter to them whether the charge of adultery is true or not because the honour of the family is tainted so they forget the poor creature awaiting death," said Soheila Vahdati, who is now based in California.
"It's not possible to talk about these prisoners in public because their families don't want their names mentioned or their pictures published. Their families don't want to defend them neither. Mohammadi Ashtiani's case is amazing because her children are campaigning for her courageously and said that their mother is innocent."
Shammameh Ghorbani, who is awaiting stoning, begged not to be freed from prison because she feared being killed by her family.
Shadi Sadr, an acclaimed Iranian lawyer, said it was hard to know exactly how many people were still facing stoning. Last year the Iranian parliament passed a law banning it, but the powerful Guardian Council has been silent on the issue.
"Many women are kept in prison because the government is very scared of the public attention," Sadr said. "One of my clients has been there for eight years and her family have abandoned her."
Publicity helps. "The only reason the Iranian government has not carried out stoning sentences on all these people is that it is afraid of Iranian public reaction and international attention," said Sadr.
The embassy said in its statement: "This kind of punishment has rarely been implemented in Iran" and condemned media reports about the case as unreliable.
The 12 women on death row also include Mariam Ghorbanzadeh, 25, Iran Iskandari, 31, Kheyrieh Valania, 42, Sarimeh Sajadi, 30, Kobra Babaei, and Afsaneh R.
Mohammadi Ashtiani was convicted of having "illicit relationships" with two men. But her lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaie, insisted there was no evidence to justify an adultery conviction. As a member of Iran's Azerbaijani minority, her inability to understand the language of the court also prevented a fair trial, he said.
William Hague, the foreign secretary, added his voice to the outrage today, condemning a "medieval punishment that has no place in the modern world". He added: "The continued use of such a punishment in Iran demonstrates a blatant disregard for international human rights commitments ... as well as the interests of its people. I call on Iran to put an immediate stay to the execution of Ms Mohammadi Ashtiani on the charge of adultery and review the process by which she was tried, and her sentence.
"She has already faced the disgraceful punishment of 99 lashes for adultery; her execution would disgust and appal the watching world."
Actors Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Juliette Binoche and playwright Sir David Hare have backed the appeal to halt the stoning. John Bercow, the Commons speaker, made a rare statement condemning a "horrific" matter and a "grotesque abuse" of human rights.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a party, requires states that have not yet abolished the death penalty to restrict its use to the "most serious crimes". The United Nations general assembly has called on all states to introduce a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.
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Fears TV confession can expedite execution
Fears TV confession can expedite execution
(Translation by Google)
Human Rights Watch fears the execution if Iranian Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is imminent.
The reason for concern is the TV confession to the doomed Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.
Human rights organization parts thus concern to Ashtianis lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, who is in exile in Norway.
Mostafei Thursday said that such televised confessions used by the Iranian authorities to justify executions.
Wednesday this week sent the Iranian television a 'interview' with the Ashtiani, where she confesses both adultery and complicity in the murder of her husband. The woman is wearing the full chador garment, and it is therefore impossible to determine her identity with certainty.
According to 43 years old Ashtianis second lawyer, Houtan Kian, told Human Rights Watch that Iran's Supreme Court will pronounce the final verdict on the case within a few days.
(Translation by Google)
The reason for concern is the TV confession to the doomed Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.
Human rights organization parts thus concern to Ashtianis lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, who is in exile in Norway.
Mostafei Thursday said that such televised confessions used by the Iranian authorities to justify executions.
Wednesday this week sent the Iranian television a 'interview' with the Ashtiani, where she confesses both adultery and complicity in the murder of her husband. The woman is wearing the full chador garment, and it is therefore impossible to determine her identity with certainty.
According to 43 years old Ashtianis second lawyer, Houtan Kian, told Human Rights Watch that Iran's Supreme Court will pronounce the final verdict on the case within a few days.
Exiled Iranian human rights lawyer speaks out
Oslo, Norway (CNN) -- To escape Iran, Mohammad Mostafaei traveled for more then 10 hours on foot and on horseback over the mountains, crossing the border illegally into Turkey.
Soon afterwards, he ended up in a detention center for illegal immigrants in Istanbul, where he was incarcerated for nearly a week.
After several surreal and sometimes dangerous weeks, Mostafaei's journey appears to finally be over. He now strolls the tidy, rain-soaked streets of Norway's capital, safe from the Iranian security forces who he claims targeted him. But Mostafaei is far from at ease.
"I don't like to be a refugee, nor do I like to work abroad," he says. "My love is to remain in Iran and help people who somehow have been oppressed whether by society or by the law or by the judicial system. But regrettably, I became a victim."
Mostafaei is a human rights lawyer. He specializes in defending Iranians under the age of 18, who have been sentenced to death for crimes ranging from murder to sodomy.
Iran ranks second in the world after China for annual executions of prisoners. But according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, Iran leads the world for the number of death sentences carried out against juvenile defendants. Human Rights Watch reports that since 2005, the Iranian judiciary has executed dozens of Iranians who were convicted of crimes committed below the age of 18.
"I have worked and handled 40 cases so far and out of these, thank God, 18 were saved," Mostafaei says. "Regrettably four were hanged. The rest need help."
In 2008 and 2009, four of Mostafaei's juvenile clients were executed. They include Delara Darabi, who was hung on May 1st 2009 for a murder allegedly committed when she was 17 years old and Behnoud Shojai, executed on October 11th, 2009 for stabbing another teenager to death when he was 17 years old.
Human rights groups point out that Iran is a signatory to the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which prohibit executions for crimes committed under the age of 18.
"These are arbitrary executions," argues Mostafaei.
For his criticism of this policy, the lawyer says authorities prevented him from traveling outside of Iran for a seven-month period.
"I was contacted several times and warned to watch out. Sometimes I saw that I was being followed," he adds. "My home phones and my offices phones were monitored."
The defense attorney appeared to have finally crossed a red line due to his outspoken defense of Sakine Mohammadi Ashtiani, the 43-year-old mother of two who was sentenced to death by stoning after being convicted of committing adultery. International uproar over the case has been a source of embarrassment for the Islamic Republic.
Activists around the world have staged protests demanding Iranian authorities commute the sentence. More recently, the president of Brazil, whose government recently broke with Western countries and voted in the United Nations Security Council against imposing a fresh round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, made a public offer of asylum to help Ashtiani escape the death sentence. Tehran rejected that offer.
On July 24th, Mostafaei says he was brought into Tehran's Evin prison for hours of interrogation. He was later released, only to discover that, in his absence, security forces had raided his office and detained his wife and brother-in-law.
"The hostage-taking led me to leave the country," Mostafaei says.
When Mostafaei was later detained after smuggling himself into Turkey, the Norwegian government intervened at the highest level to have him released.
"There is a courageous man who raises cases-- difficult cases-- which the authorities don't like and he sees himself in a position where he has to flee across a mountain. He sees his wife imprisoned. Well, I think we should wake up and speak out," said Jonas Gahr Støre, the Foreign Minister of Norway, in an interview with CNN.
Norway's top diplomat says, on principle, his government opposes the death penalty.
"The death penalty against juvenile people is an especially bad thing," says Støre. "Iran being among the countries with the most such cases."
Barely a week after arriving in Oslo under Norwegian government protection, Mostafaei appears to be very much on an emotional roller coaster, swinging rapidly from elation to despair.
He relishes the chance to focus attention on Iran's human rights record, which he argues is often over-shadowed by international concern over Iran's nuclear program.
"What matters more inside Iran are human rights issues," Mostafaei says. "Lack of freedom of speech, lack of freedom of thought, the newspapers are not free, the students are not free, the [political] parties are not free...human rights issues in the prosecutors' offices are far more important than issues of world nuclear energy."
But Mostafaei's new international platform for publicity has come at considerable personal cost.
On August 7th, Mostafaei's wife Fereshteh Halimi was released on bail after spending 13 days in solitary confinement.
"When they found that my husband was out of Iran and they couldn't reach him and I wouldn't be a good hostage any more, that's when they released me," Halimi said in a phone interview with CNN last week. Halimi's father and brother were also briefly detained, but later released after posting bail for the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars. All three now await trial in Tehran.
"I can imagine that with him being here and the family being there he [Mostafei] feels concerned," says Norwegian foreign minister Støre. "And knowing the track record of the Iranian regime when it comes to people like that I don't question his concern."
"I hope Iran will get better in the future," Mostafaei said, during a rainy walk along a waterfront boardwalk in Oslo. "But I don't know when. Maybe five years, ten years, I don't know."
Then, his mood momentarily brightened as he pointed across Oslo's harbor, exclaiming "very beautiful."
Soon afterwards, he ended up in a detention center for illegal immigrants in Istanbul, where he was incarcerated for nearly a week.
After several surreal and sometimes dangerous weeks, Mostafaei's journey appears to finally be over. He now strolls the tidy, rain-soaked streets of Norway's capital, safe from the Iranian security forces who he claims targeted him. But Mostafaei is far from at ease.
"I don't like to be a refugee, nor do I like to work abroad," he says. "My love is to remain in Iran and help people who somehow have been oppressed whether by society or by the law or by the judicial system. But regrettably, I became a victim."
Mostafaei is a human rights lawyer. He specializes in defending Iranians under the age of 18, who have been sentenced to death for crimes ranging from murder to sodomy.
"I have worked and handled 40 cases so far and out of these, thank God, 18 were saved," Mostafaei says. "Regrettably four were hanged. The rest need help."
In 2008 and 2009, four of Mostafaei's juvenile clients were executed. They include Delara Darabi, who was hung on May 1st 2009 for a murder allegedly committed when she was 17 years old and Behnoud Shojai, executed on October 11th, 2009 for stabbing another teenager to death when he was 17 years old.
Human rights groups point out that Iran is a signatory to the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which prohibit executions for crimes committed under the age of 18.
"These are arbitrary executions," argues Mostafaei.
For his criticism of this policy, the lawyer says authorities prevented him from traveling outside of Iran for a seven-month period.
"I was contacted several times and warned to watch out. Sometimes I saw that I was being followed," he adds. "My home phones and my offices phones were monitored."
The defense attorney appeared to have finally crossed a red line due to his outspoken defense of Sakine Mohammadi Ashtiani, the 43-year-old mother of two who was sentenced to death by stoning after being convicted of committing adultery. International uproar over the case has been a source of embarrassment for the Islamic Republic.
Activists around the world have staged protests demanding Iranian authorities commute the sentence. More recently, the president of Brazil, whose government recently broke with Western countries and voted in the United Nations Security Council against imposing a fresh round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, made a public offer of asylum to help Ashtiani escape the death sentence. Tehran rejected that offer.
On July 24th, Mostafaei says he was brought into Tehran's Evin prison for hours of interrogation. He was later released, only to discover that, in his absence, security forces had raided his office and detained his wife and brother-in-law.
"The hostage-taking led me to leave the country," Mostafaei says.
When Mostafaei was later detained after smuggling himself into Turkey, the Norwegian government intervened at the highest level to have him released.
"There is a courageous man who raises cases-- difficult cases-- which the authorities don't like and he sees himself in a position where he has to flee across a mountain. He sees his wife imprisoned. Well, I think we should wake up and speak out," said Jonas Gahr Støre, the Foreign Minister of Norway, in an interview with CNN.
There is a courageous man who raises cases -- difficult cases -- which the authorities don't like.
--Jonas Gahr Stoere, Norwegian Foreign Minister
--Jonas Gahr Stoere, Norwegian Foreign Minister
"The death penalty against juvenile people is an especially bad thing," says Støre. "Iran being among the countries with the most such cases."
Barely a week after arriving in Oslo under Norwegian government protection, Mostafaei appears to be very much on an emotional roller coaster, swinging rapidly from elation to despair.
He relishes the chance to focus attention on Iran's human rights record, which he argues is often over-shadowed by international concern over Iran's nuclear program.
"What matters more inside Iran are human rights issues," Mostafaei says. "Lack of freedom of speech, lack of freedom of thought, the newspapers are not free, the students are not free, the [political] parties are not free...human rights issues in the prosecutors' offices are far more important than issues of world nuclear energy."
But Mostafaei's new international platform for publicity has come at considerable personal cost.
On August 7th, Mostafaei's wife Fereshteh Halimi was released on bail after spending 13 days in solitary confinement.
"When they found that my husband was out of Iran and they couldn't reach him and I wouldn't be a good hostage any more, that's when they released me," Halimi said in a phone interview with CNN last week. Halimi's father and brother were also briefly detained, but later released after posting bail for the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars. All three now await trial in Tehran.
"I can imagine that with him being here and the family being there he [Mostafei] feels concerned," says Norwegian foreign minister Støre. "And knowing the track record of the Iranian regime when it comes to people like that I don't question his concern."
"I hope Iran will get better in the future," Mostafaei said, during a rainy walk along a waterfront boardwalk in Oslo. "But I don't know when. Maybe five years, ten years, I don't know."
Then, his mood momentarily brightened as he pointed across Oslo's harbor, exclaiming "very beautiful."
A rainbow had appeared over the water... a much-needed sign of hope, perhaps, for a man who has lost his job, his country, and now faces prolonged separation from his wife and daughter.
Sajad Qaderzadeh’s Letter (Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s son) to the United Nations: “Our Mother is not a murderer, Do not let her be executed”
"Our Mother is not a murderer, Do not let her be executed”
Our Mother is not a murderer
Do not let her be executed
For five years we have endured the nightmare of our mother being stoned.
There has been news of our mother’s crime- adultery, everywhere and that she would be stoned. This frightful word has been continuously repeated in connection with our Mother. This has made us cry day after day and wonder how we would live without her.
Time after time we tried to help our Mother. We searched different avenues. We found people who we thought might be able to help us. We wrote letters saying, ‘do not let the pain of our Mother’s death add to our already painful lives’. I do not know why nobody listened. Perhaps there are people who enjoy seeing our Mother suffer and us having dark nightmares.
Two months ago we heard that all possibilities were closed and our Mother may be stoned soon. Our last option was to ask people of the world to help us. Now that many people internationally talk about our Mother and her fate, this has given us positive support. Suddenly the situation has changed. Our Mother’s crime is murder now and death sentence.
This is not true. Whatever she says now it is because of being captured and the nightmare of stoning and the death sentence.
This is not acceptable.
We know that our Mother is not a murderer. Our Father’s murder file has been looked into and someone else has confessed. The file is closed now; all the files are there to be seen.
Now, how is it that the government sources want to open the files and judge our Mother a murderer. It looks as thought to be fair to our Father they want to kill our Mother. What sort of justice is this?
In order to look at this situation impartially, we ask the United Nations to send a committee to Iran to look at all these questions.
Sajad Qader Zadeh (Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s son).
Publication of international committee against stoning and international committee against execution
Our Mother is not a murderer
Do not let her be executed
For five years we have endured the nightmare of our mother being stoned.
There has been news of our mother’s crime- adultery, everywhere and that she would be stoned. This frightful word has been continuously repeated in connection with our Mother. This has made us cry day after day and wonder how we would live without her.
Time after time we tried to help our Mother. We searched different avenues. We found people who we thought might be able to help us. We wrote letters saying, ‘do not let the pain of our Mother’s death add to our already painful lives’. I do not know why nobody listened. Perhaps there are people who enjoy seeing our Mother suffer and us having dark nightmares.
Two months ago we heard that all possibilities were closed and our Mother may be stoned soon. Our last option was to ask people of the world to help us. Now that many people internationally talk about our Mother and her fate, this has given us positive support. Suddenly the situation has changed. Our Mother’s crime is murder now and death sentence.
This is not true. Whatever she says now it is because of being captured and the nightmare of stoning and the death sentence.
This is not acceptable.
We know that our Mother is not a murderer. Our Father’s murder file has been looked into and someone else has confessed. The file is closed now; all the files are there to be seen.
Now, how is it that the government sources want to open the files and judge our Mother a murderer. It looks as thought to be fair to our Father they want to kill our Mother. What sort of justice is this?
In order to look at this situation impartially, we ask the United Nations to send a committee to Iran to look at all these questions.
Sajad Qader Zadeh (Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s son).
Publication of international committee against stoning and international committee against execution
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