Pt2: More women on death row in the Islamic Republic of Iran

30Apr09

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Story continued…

At the age of 14 she became pregnant again, and received a further 100 lashes, after which she was moved to a maternity ward to give birth to twins. After this “temporary marriage”, her family sold her again, to a 55-year-old man, married with two children, who had Leyla’s customers come to his house.

Amnesty International UK Media Director Mike Blakemore said: “This is an urgent case. Hejieh could be killed in the next five days if we do not act quickly. Our members here in the UK are writing to the Iranian authorities, imploring them to stop this brutal execution. Campaigners in Iran are also taking action. But we need more people to stand up and be counted, to tell the Iranian authorities that this is not acceptable.

A month earlier, Zhila Iazadi, 13, was sentenced to death by stoning on decision from a court in the Kurdish city of Marivan, after being found by her devout parents that she was pregnant from her 15 years-old brother. However, the Supreme Court changed the original sentence into imprisonment after Mrs. Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian lawyer who won the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize alerted the international community while on a tour of Scandinavian nations.

Prior to this case, Atefeh Rajabi was hanged in August in the Caspian Sea port of Neka for sex before marriage. The judge, a cleric, who hanged Atefeh himself in the city’s main square insisted she was 20, but lawyers and diplomats who saw her death certificate confirmed that she was only 16.

Amnesty International is aware of at least one case in which a sentence of execution by stoning has reportedly been issued this year. According to a report on 8 January 2004 in the Iran newspaper, a criminal court in the city of Qazvin sentenced an unnamed man to 80 lashes and 10 years’’ imprisonment to be followed by execution by stoning. It is not known whether this sentence has been carried out.

Amnesty International believes that the death penalty is the most extreme form of torture. It is a cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, and a violation of the right to life as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

“It is clear that the punishment of stoning is designed to cause the victim grievous pain before leading to death. Such methods of execution specifically designed to increase the suffering of victims are of particular concern to Amnesty International, as the most extreme and cruel form of torture”, the human rights organisation said.

“One in three women around the world suffers serious violence in their lifetime, at home, in the community or in war, just because they are women”, Amnesty International said, adding that the Organisation is running a global campaign to “Stop Violence Against Women”.

The human rights organisation is calling on governments to repeal laws that permit and encourage violence against women, and on communities to challenge attitudes that allow violence to continue.

Written by Safa Haeri – December 2004

Posted by Zana Eka-Naphtali
4WardEver Volunteer Team

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Tags: Capital Punishment, injustice