Sunday, July 20, 2008 | Reason : In the News | print version

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Nine face stoning death in Iran

by BBC News

Thanks to Android for the link.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7516238.stm

Nine face stoning death in Iran

At least eight women and one man are reported to have been sentenced to death by stoning in Iran.

The group, convicted of adultery and sex offences, could be executed at any time, lawyers defending them say.

The lawyers have called on the head of Iran's judiciary to prevent the sentences from being carried out.

The last officially reported stoning in Iran last year drew strong criticism from human rights groups and the European Union.

The eight women sentenced, whose ages range from 27 to 43, had convictions including prostitution, incest and adultery, Reuters news agency reported.

The man, a 50-year-old music teacher, was convicted of illegal sex with a student, reports said.

Moratorium imposed

Under Iran's Islamic law, stoning to death is the punishment for the crime of adultery.
In 2002 Iranian judiciary chief Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi imposed a moratorium on stoning, but at least three people are reported to have been executed by stoning since then.
Shadi Sadr from the Volunteer Lawyers' Network, which is representing the women, said: "We are very worried as there are at least eight women and one man with a definitive verdict which can be carried out any moment.

"There are no guarantees that the punishments will be halted or commuted."

She called on the international community to back their efforts, adding: "We are in close touch with human rights organisations and many of them have supported our campaign."
Fellow defence lawyer Mariam Kian-Arsi said: "Our specific and clear demand is to have the stoning sentence stopped by Ayatollah Shahroudi since the defendants are liable to be stoned at any moment."

Women 'poorly represented'

In theory the penalty of stoning to death applies to both men and women.
But the lawyers say that in practice, many more women than men receive the sentence because they are less well educated and often poorly represented in court.

Human rights group Amnesty International earlier this year called on Iran to abolish "this grotesque punishment" and said many facing execution by stoning were sentenced after unfair trials.

Under Iran's strict penal code, men convicted of adultery should be buried up to their waists and women up to their chests for stoning. The stones used should not be large enough to kill the person immediately.

Posted: Sunday, July 20, 2008 | Permalink

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1. Comment #214526 by mordacious1 on July 20, 2008 at 3:13 pm

Holy crap, these guys are morons.

[edit] I wouldn't think they'd stone the guy for having sex with a student, which law did he violate? Or do you have to be married before you have sex with kids?

Other Comments by mordacious1

2. Comment #214532 by thewhitepearl on July 20, 2008 at 3:17 pm

Under Iran's strict penal code, men convicted of adultery should be buried up to their waists and women up to their chests for stoning. The stones used should not be large enough to kill the person immediately.

Good lord can you imagine being stoned to death. Stoned...til you die.. I mean honestly how long of a process is that? It's completley brutal.

Other Comments by thewhitepearl

3. Comment #214539 by mordacious1 on July 20, 2008 at 3:31 pm

"Good lord can you imagine being stoned to death. Stoned...til you die..."

I came close a couple of times in college.

Other Comments by mordacious1

4. Comment #214544 by Dowirunem on July 20, 2008 at 3:33 pm

But Islam is a peaceful loving faith. . . . .
May be they need a dictionary.
Or a non montyPython-esq translation dictionary.

Other Comments by Dowirunem

5. Comment #214545 by Village_Idiot on July 20, 2008 at 3:33 pm

Religion is a wonderful thing. Isn't it? Time has stopped in Iran well over a millennium ago, and, since then, people entertain each other by smashing with stones heads of those who do not submit to Allah. It is fun!

If this country ever gets nuclear weapons in its hands we are all dead. Chris Hitchens is so right...

A question: What goes through a persons mind when he/she throws a stone at another defenseless human being with an intention to kill, as in this case?

Other Comments by Village_Idiot

6. Comment #214555 by kraut on July 20, 2008 at 3:42 pm

Come off it, it is only a few hundred years ago since people were burned alive in the name of religion (to save their souls) - or "witches" were tortured in Salem, USA.
A lot of Christians today would gladly engage in the same ritual elimination of the "enemy" if permitted.

After all - the US government thinks waterboarding, sleep deprivation is all a matter of course.

Complain about torture and the treatment of prisoners and the death penalty in the US first - after all, most of the folks posting here are likely from that enlightened country, before you rightly condemn islamist idiots.
Meaning - clean up your own stable first.

Other Comments by kraut

7. Comment #214558 by gaving on July 20, 2008 at 3:45 pm

What barbaric, horrible times we live in.

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8. Comment #214560 by robotaholic on July 20, 2008 at 3:46 pm

how bout we just decide to not kill people Kraut? - That is a good start if you ask me.-

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9. Comment #214564 by TeapotTheist on July 20, 2008 at 3:51 pm

Horrific. Every time I read about this kind of thing, I'm shocked once again. This aspect (plus a few others) of Islamic culture - yes, I do mean CULTURE! - is a total anachronism, and should not be tolerated in the 21st century.

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10. Comment #214565 by HourglassMemory on July 20, 2008 at 3:52 pm

My god.
It's like space-time has ripped and somehow someone has errouneously reported an event from a 1000 years ago.

If it's such a loving faith why does islam keep being responsible for needless little traditions like this one?
Why are people more prone for this sort of act if they follow this particular religion? (And why are religious people more prone to sounding insane if they start becoming passionate about their beliefs of the supernatural? Why do they suddenly, once they pass a threshold, sound insane?)
Why are only TRUE religions those that advocate moderate views and tolerant ones? Why can't a religion actually be a violent one? Why can't people actually believe in their violent traditions?
Who can blame them? They live in the 14th Century with a disturbing mind controlling government who itself is innocently enslaved by these needless traditions.

And stoning, geesh. You can't get more primitive than that. Those who think we don't share ancestry with primitive apes, just look at these cases.
I can't help but think about the last thoughts that go through those people's minds until they die.
I immediately start thinking of their family (Though some of the bastards might not even care), and of how they were as children, running around and smiling and laughing and so on....then they find themselves actually being stoned in the face until their poor brains can no longer hold consciousness.
It makes me feel very uncomfortable. Because I can put myself in that situation. And I start thinking what I would go through.
It's such a waste of a life.
And it's mainly women!!!! ACK!!

Other Comments by HourglassMemory

11. Comment #214568 by mordacious1 on July 20, 2008 at 4:01 pm

kraut

Sleep deprivation for planning to kill people=stoning for committing adultery, yeah I see where you could equate the two.

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12. Comment #214572 by Apathy personified on July 20, 2008 at 4:06 pm

kraut,
Nobody is suggesting the US is perfect (i'm a Britisher, btw) - but that doesn't exclude us from being outraged that people are being STONED TO DEATH for adultery.

Also, I don't like the idea that people should be excluded from having opinions because of nationality.

Other Comments by Apathy personified

13. Comment #214577 by EvidenceOnly on July 20, 2008 at 4:13 pm

All countries should abandon their religious books as guidance for morality and law and should abandon the death penalty. The US should look itself in the mirror as well and abandon the death penalty and wars of aggression and torture.

We may think we are more civilized but if you look at number of the death threat that Prof. PZ Myers has received from "civilized" catholics in the US for calling their "host" just a cracker, we have way too many people who would kill to impose their views and morality on society.

We all need to leave the stone age behind.

Other Comments by EvidenceOnly

14. Comment #214582 by Cairnarvon on July 20, 2008 at 4:20 pm

Sleep deprivation for planning to kill people=stoning for committing adultery, yeah I see where you could equate the two.

I think you need to take a good look at what the US does to some of its prisoners, and what crimes they're charged with, mordacious1. And if you think sleep deprivation can't amount to torture, volunteer to undergo it, like Hitchens did with waterboarding.

But people like kraut annoy me. It's true the US could be a lot better than it is, but that's no reason for reasonable individuals to condone excesses in other nations as well.
You can be sure that most people here will speak out just as loudly against human rights abuses by the US as they do against abuses by other nations.

(And all of that aside, many of us don't even live in the US. I'm Belgian, where does that leave me?)

Other Comments by Cairnarvon

15. Comment #214591 by kkelly on July 20, 2008 at 4:34 pm

Why the hell doesn't this shit get wide press coverage in america? The honor killing covered on this site was not mentioned on tv, they never are. Not to denigrate Lindsay Lohan's haggard vagina, but this stuff is much more interesting and important.

Other Comments by kkelly

16. Comment #214598 by mordacious1 on July 20, 2008 at 4:36 pm

Cairnarvon

I have gone through sleep deprivation, don't jump to conclusions, 9 days of it. It was a bitch indeed. The difference, I suppose, is that I'm here to discuss it, and those who are stoned to death aren't. Btw, the U.S. is not the only country that uses this kind of torture. Personally I'm against all kinds of torture and the death penalty. My only points are 1) the finality of stoning, 2) the difference between adultery, and say blowing up a school with children inside.

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17. Comment #214601 by kkelly on July 20, 2008 at 4:41 pm

mordacious, you went 9 straight days without sleep? Some radio personality in the 50s did 8 days for a publicity stunt, and suffered permanent personality changes. If I go even 24 hours I get so disoriented I can get lost in my own neighborhood.

Other Comments by kkelly

18. Comment #214605 by mordacious1 on July 20, 2008 at 4:49 pm

They give you little "cat naps" just not long ones, 5 minutes or so, it is more effective that way. It's the duration of how long they can keep at it that is the key. Yes, I think I did suffer some personality disorders, can't you tell? I don't really want to get into that here, but I'd rather have a few issues than be dead. That's just me though.

Other Comments by mordacious1

19. Comment #214611 by Goldy on July 20, 2008 at 4:56 pm

Kraut, whatever the US government (and judiciary) think constitutes torture or questioning techniques, it does not equate them with death. Stoning is a horrific way to die - read the line at the end

The stones used should not be large enough to kill the person immediately.

At least the US uses a method of execution that is relatively humane - and even the humanity part of that is under question.
As it is, look at the ratio of women to men due to be stoned. Doesn't something strike you as odd? All these women condemned - you really think they wanted to be sexually assaulted? And the charges - incest? Something just does not gel here.
Here, listen to this. Gain an insight...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/7107184.stm

Other Comments by Goldy

20. Comment #214614 by kkelly on July 20, 2008 at 5:10 pm

20, who's this "they" you speak of? can they read your thoughts? are they watching you right now?

Other Comments by kkelly

21. Comment #214619 by funflower on July 20, 2008 at 5:18 pm

The Religion of Peace(TM) is at it again.

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22. Comment #214620 by Village_Idiot on July 20, 2008 at 5:19 pm

Kraut writes:

A lot of Christians today would gladly engage in the same ritual elimination of the "enemy" if permitted.

You are absolutely correct. It is scary.

Other Comments by Village_Idiot

23. Comment #214622 by hawt4dawk on July 20, 2008 at 5:27 pm

This issue of our use of torture is a huge controversy here in the U.S., as are our "wars of aggression". Hearings in our Congress have been held, investigations are ongoing, protests are organized. Capital punishment is not legal in every state. It is not frequently practiced in the majority of states and territories. Our criminal process and prison systems are deeply flawed. But, as human beings, we can all be horrified about stonings in Iran regardless of what is happening in our own countries.

Other Comments by hawt4dawk

24. Comment #214625 by rod-the-farmer on July 20, 2008 at 5:40 pm

I bet if someone smuggled out a video of the stoning, the world wide outcry would put an end to it really quickly. Few countries can stand the public pressure against such a revolting idea, if the video became available.

Other Comments by rod-the-farmer

25. Comment #214626 by The Schuermannator on July 20, 2008 at 5:41 pm

Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone...

Seriously, if their god is so pissed over these people committing adultery why doesn't Allah do something about it? Fucktards.

Other Comments by The Schuermannator

26. Comment #214627 by black wolf on July 20, 2008 at 5:43 pm

Hear the crickets?
They're here to entertain us while cowboy-Joe and Whathisfaceclear are busy elsewhere.

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27. Comment #214630 by mordacious1 on July 20, 2008 at 5:46 pm

kkelly

Actually, it was 35 years ago, get out some history books and figure it out. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it, knowing how some dickhead would come along and be facetious about it.

Other Comments by mordacious1

28. Comment #214636 by Godfree Gordon on July 20, 2008 at 5:55 pm

Village Idiot

Time didnt stop a millenium ago in Iran.

Persia until very recently was a well educated, advancing society, until of course the Koraniacs took over.

Iran has invented time travel - they've gone back to the turn of the last millenium :-)

Other Comments by Godfree Gordon

29. Comment #214637 by thewhitepearl on July 20, 2008 at 5:56 pm

#21455 by Kraut,

OOOOH You better be glad fanusi isn't here right now. He'd rip you a new one for that.

Complain about torture and the treatment of prisoners and the death penalty in the US first - after all, most of the folks posting here are likely from that enlightened country, before you rightly condemn islamist idiots

I have I do. I don't agree with the death penalty or torture. And we tend to condemn all irrational behavior, especially when they branch from religions.

Very tempted to throw the "a" word out there, but I shall restrain.

Other Comments by thewhitepearl

30. Comment #214639 by kkelly on July 20, 2008 at 6:06 pm

mordacious, why would your schizophrenic break 35 years ago be documented in history books?

Unless you're referring to that psychological prisoner experiment? I saw some video of that, were you the one sobbing in the corner or the one licking up your piss?

Other Comments by kkelly

31. Comment #214641 by thewhitepearl on July 20, 2008 at 6:14 pm

I saw some video of that, were you the one sobbing in the corner or the one licking up your piss?

whoa whoa whoa whoa

[holds mordy back]

[edit] yeah rad, I had to carefully re-read everything to make sure either

A.) Mordy didn't ask for it or
B.) They were just fucking with each other
it turns out that
C.) None of the above. Kkelly is just a classless pos

Other Comments by thewhitepearl

32. Comment #214642 by Goldy on July 20, 2008 at 6:14 pm

Comment #214639 by kkelly
Is there a reason for writing this?

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33. Comment #214643 by HunterZolomon on July 20, 2008 at 6:15 pm

Ah! Nothing like a good old stoning to let the religiously enslaved vent their frustration.

26. rod-the-farmer

I seriously doubt it. I recall seeing a video of a few public executions at a football field somewhere in the middle-east. Had pretty serious nightmares. I don't think these countries give a f**k about what the west thinks about their barbaric practices.

Other Comments by HunterZolomon

34. Comment #214644 by kkelly on July 20, 2008 at 6:16 pm

35, world peace?

Other Comments by kkelly

35. Comment #214646 by mordacious1 on July 20, 2008 at 6:16 pm

Rad

You're right, of course. I guess my only explanation is, for example, if a woman came on here and related an experience she had with being raped, then someone implied it didn't happen, or was she the one in the corner of some video licking her own piss, I would feel she'd be justifiably enraged. There are some limits, or maybe not to some people. I think I'll move on and if someone does relate something like that, I hope I'm not the one dishing it out.

Other Comments by mordacious1

36. Comment #214647 by Goldy on July 20, 2008 at 6:16 pm

Damn, Hunter, that avatar is really appropriate now :-D

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37. Comment #214648 by Apathy personified on July 20, 2008 at 6:16 pm

kkelly,
Not cool - what's your problem?

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38. Comment #214649 by Dhamma on July 20, 2008 at 6:16 pm

This whole thing pisses me off, but lately I've been wondering if we're so much more civilized.

All the time we say it's so brutal down in the mid-east and anything similar would never be implied here. But I think the people are full of shit.

We've had a case of a man who murdered and, I have in mind, raped a young girl. Capital punishment is luckily not used here, but the verdict of the people is clear - He must be murdered. I can't talk sensibly with anyone about it, as they get pissed off I don't agree.

Wouldn't be through stoning of course, but the fact we want them killed is less than satisfactory.

Civilised society, my ass.

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39. Comment #214651 by HunterZolomon on July 20, 2008 at 6:21 pm

40. Comment #214647 by Goldy

RIGHT! WHO THREW THAT?!!!

Other Comments by HunterZolomon

40. Comment #214652 by kkelly on July 20, 2008 at 6:21 pm

whoa lighten up people, how was I supposed to know he was serious about being a part of that? What are the odds?

Other Comments by kkelly

41. Comment #214654 by b0ltzm0n on July 20, 2008 at 6:22 pm

Does "how" someone is put to death by the state determine the civility of that state? I'm on the fence, and happen to be living in the most pro-death penalty state in the USA (Texas). Someone help me off this fence please.

Other Comments by b0ltzm0n

42. Comment #214655 by Goldy on July 20, 2008 at 6:22 pm

Dhamma, have to say I do agree with your sentiment.
I remember reading some officer's account of the ethnic warfare in Bosnia, I believe it was. He drove through villages with nice houses and fences and gardens - all burnt. To him it showed what a thin veneer civilisation is, that people who live together and follow laws can so easily be led astray, as it were.
I know some Iranians - they really didn't do the religious thing a la Revolutionary Iran. Executions t them were a nasty and barbaric affair.

Other Comments by Goldy

43. Comment #214657 by Cartomancer on July 20, 2008 at 6:23 pm

Why is it always "sex offences"? Seems the only time we ever hear about vile religious dogma is when it involves sex. If it's not muslims stoning people to death because they have failed to be monogamous it's catholics and their condoms or anglicans getting in a flap about gay bishops.

The question I feel compelled to ask is what religious societies hope to gain from such murderous patriarchal practices? I mean, what's wrong with promiscuity anyway? That one has always baffled me. I can sort of understand that it might feel bad to find out that someone you loved was cheating on you, but I really can't see how that could become the basis for a whole society actually murdering such people in public. I can believe it's just a draconian measure to deter people from doing it in the future, but such an explanation still doesn't get to grips with why these people find it so abhorrent in the first place. Is there some kind of society-wide macroeconomic advantage to monogamy that I'm missing? Is it about loss of face on the part of the cuckolded individual? Is it just imposing limits on people purely for the sake of controlling them? Is it just another one of these inexplicable irrationalities that religion throws up at random, without any kind of logical basis?

Other Comments by Cartomancer

44. Comment #214658 by Goldy on July 20, 2008 at 6:25 pm

RIGHT! WHO THREW THAT?!!!

She did! (in high pitched voice)....errr, he did! (low voice)
:-D
Soon, hopefully, allowed to be shown in Aberystwyth http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Showbiz-News/Life-Of-Brian-Welsh-Town-Aberystwyth-Tries-To-Overturn-Ban-On-Showing-Controversial-Film/Article/200807315047150?f=rss

Other Comments by Goldy

45. Comment #214660 by thewhitepearl on July 20, 2008 at 6:27 pm

35, world peace?

Let me guess, you also subscribe to the " Have to fight to make peace" rationality?

Your comments are not peaceful, funny, or welcomed. They're rude, disgusting, and pigheaded.

Other Comments by thewhitepearl

46. Comment #214661 by mordacious1 on July 20, 2008 at 6:28 pm

Sorry guys, I didn't mean to start a big deal. Btw Kelly, and now I'm just being mean, I've got 3 bullet wounds that still hurt, and a piece of shrapnel in my spine that keeps me flat on my back most of the time. Want to make fun of that too?

Other Comments by mordacious1

47. Comment #214662 by kkelly on July 20, 2008 at 6:29 pm

47, but that would be lying. I can't really see how an anonymous comment in jest on a message board could ever be offensive. I don't know him or anything about him, and he knows that, so how could anything I say have the power to hurt him? Trust me, it can't.

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48. Comment #214663 by Goldy on July 20, 2008 at 6:29 pm

CArto - it's not always about the sex but about destroying the evidence. Check out the BBC link I provided in comment #214611 by Goldy.
As it is, I cannot see the horror of promiscuity either, except as a form of ownership gone bad. Saying that, I still feel pain at the memory of an ex's infidelity....

Other Comments by Goldy

49. Comment #214664 by Apathy personified on July 20, 2008 at 6:29 pm

Carto - The simple answer would be jealousy, possibly linked to personal insecurities. However, there are probably deeper and more complex issues.

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50. Comment #214665 by Quine on July 20, 2008 at 6:30 pm