Save Sakineh from being stoned to death in Iran!

Iran: Stop the Execution of Sakineh!

Target: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Sponsored by: Amnesty International USA

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a mother of two, was sentenced to death by an Iranian court for having an "illicit relationship" with two men. However, human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei said that her confession was coerced as Ashtiani only confessed after suffering 99 lashes.

Although Ashtiani has since retracted her confession, Iran's supreme court upheld the conviction in 2007. She was convicted on the basis of the "knowledge of the judge", a provision in Iranian law that allows judges to make their own determination regarding guilt even in the absence of clear or conclusive evidence.

Urge Iranian President Ahmadinejad to halt Ashtiani's imminent execution and to commute her death sentence immediately.

Your Excellency Dr. Ahmadinejad,

I am writing to you to express my deep concern about the impending execution of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a mother of two, was convicted of adultery despite the lack of any corroborating evidence against her and sentenced to death. She retracted the confession she said she made under duress.

[Your comment will be inserted here]

I urge you to halt Ashtiani's imminent execution and commute her death sentence. Furthermore, she was convicted after unfair legal proceedings. I therefore strongly urge that she receive a trial that meets internationally accepted standards for judicial proceedings.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Sincerely,
[Your name here]

The death penalty is inhumane, cruel, vengeful and immoral, and using the method of stoning, brutal, barbaric and torture. It violates an individual's human rights to life and to not be subjected to torture and to cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment/treatment. This MUST be stopped! 


Stop Iran from Executing Mother Accused with Adultery

Targeting: Ayatollah Sadeqh Larijani and Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei

Sponsored by: Amnesty International USA

Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian mother of two, could be executed at any moment.
The Iranian government was until recently set to carry out the barbaric use of stoning against Mohammadi Ashtiani for allegedly conducting an "illicit relationship outside marriage," despite the lack of any corroborating evidence against her.
Iranian officials were prepared to bury Mohammadi Ashtiani up to her chest and then throw stones at her head until she died.  But after a major international uproar, Iranian officials changed their minds.
Mohammadi Ashtiani is now in danger of being executed by other means.
Iran's government just doesn't get it - execution is wrong no matter which means are used.
What's worse - Mohammadi Ashtiani has already been punished for her alleged crime. In May 2006, she received 99 lashes as her sentence and has been imprisoned ever since.
But the fact that Iranian officials have already changed their minds once about Mohammadi Ashtiani's fate proves that they are listening. Iran's draconian policies are not immune to international pressure.
Let them hear how outraged you are.  Tell Iran to stop the executions by signing the petition below.

Petition Text

Stop the Execution

Dear Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei and Ayatollah Sadeqh Larijani,

I am writing to you to express my deep concern about the impending execution of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.

Ashtiani, a mother of two, was convicted of adultery despite the lack of any corroborating evidence against her, and sentenced to death. She retracted the confession she said she made under duress.

I urge you to halt Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s execution and to commute her death sentence. Furthermore, Ashtiani was convicted after unfair legal proceedings. I therefore strongly urge that she be given a trial that meets internationally accepted standards for fair trials.

Thank you very much for your attention.

[Your name]

This is inhumane, immoral, cruel, torture, degrading and uncivilized and barbaric! 

Stop executions! Stop stoning to death!

Show your Solidarity! This is a project to show that we are against Executions, and Stoning to Death in Iran. Iranian Regime is everyday executing people. That includes Women, Children, Homosexuals, Political Prisoners, and so on.. This is WRONG.

Save Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani from being Stoned to Death in Iran Facebook Page

STOP Executions in Iran (project)- **Show Solidarity: http://bit.ly/NoToExecutions Save Sakineh from being Stoned to Death in Iran- Petition link: http://bit.ly/d8N1oK Take More Action: Protest letters: http://bit.ly/9uuvNA You can read more about Sakineh here: http://bit.ly/brQIYP AND http://bit.ly/cede3p Letter from Sakineh's two children: http://bit.ly/9CXRYJ Any questions, feel free to ask SaveSakineh@hotmail.com or SaveSakineh@yahoo.com You can find me on twitter- @FreeeIran

URGENT! Save Sakineh from being stoned to death in Iran

A lawyer and activist close to the case of an Iranian woman convicted of adultery say she may soon be stoned to death, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. Women's rights activist Soheila Vahdati spoke to Radio Farda on June 17 about the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani. Ashtiani, who has two children, has been imprisoned in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz since 2005. Vahdati says Sakineh was earlier sentenced to 99 lashes in 2006 for having "illicit relationships." The sentence was subsequently carried out and her case was closed. But authorities later charged Ashtiani with murder. Prosecutors alleged that Ashtiani and her boyfriend had killed her husband. In making the murder case against Ashtiani, activist Vahdati says the court "illegally" reopened the adultery case against Ashtiani. It was the second time Ashtiani would be tried for the same alleged adulterous conduct. According to Vahdati, Ashtiani was sentenced to be stoned to death for the same alleged act of adultery for which she earlier had been convicted to 99 lashes. It is not clear when she was sentenced. While denying the charges against her, Ashtiani has asked the authorities for a pardon. According to activist Vahdati, Ashtiani told the authorities, "if I have done any wrong, I repent." Her clemency request was rejected. Lawyer Mohammad Mostafaie, who represents Ashtiani, also maintains her innocence. Writing on his personal blog, the lawyer described Ashtiani's stoning as imminent and said his client will be executed "for an offense she has not committed." According to Article 83 of the Laws of Islamic Punishment in Iran, ratified in 1991, the penalty for adultery is death by stoning. However, murder is not punishable in Iran by stoning. Murderers who receive the death sentence are hanged. http://www.rferl.org/content/Fear_For_Iranian_Woman_Facing_Death_By_Stoning_/2075376.html

The Islamic Republic of Iran is enforcing the brutal and savage anti human punishments against the people of Iran, including stoning to death of men and women. This is an urgent matter, and stoning to death of Sakineh is imminent. We ask United Nations, European Union, Human Rights Organizations to take urgent action, to save Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani who has been imprisoned in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz since 2005. Sakineh was earlier sentenced to 99 lashes in 2006 for having "illicit relationships." The sentence was subsequently carried out and her case was closed. But authorities later charged Ashtiani with murder. Prosecutors alleged that Ashtiani and her boyfriend had killed her husband. In making the murder case against Ashtiani, activist Vahdati says the court "illegally" reopened the adultery case against Ashtiani. It was the second time Ashtiani would be tried for the same alleged adulterous conduct. According to Vahdati, Ashtiani was sentenced to be stoned to death for the same alleged act of adultery for which she earlier had been convicted to 99 lashes. It is not clear when she was sentenced. She denied her charges. Lawyer Mohammad Mostafaie, who represents Ashtiani, also maintains her innocence. Writing on his personal blog, the lawyer described Ashtiani's stoning as imminent and said his client will be executed "for an offense she has not committed." Ashtiani is also a mother of two. WE ASK FOR URGENT INTERNATIONAL ACTION!

Free Sakineh!

July 13, 2010: Iranian officials say stoning charge to be reviewed but death sentence remains. An Iranian woman faces death after having been tortured for alleged adultery. In 2006 Ashtiani was convicted of having an ‘illicit relationship’ and received 99 lashes. Since this time the 43 year old has been in jail where she recanted the confession she made under the duress of the lashing. Just recently she was dragged before a court and retried. Again she was convicted and this time, despite the punishment she has already endured, sentenced to be stoned to death. This barbaric practice involves wrapping a woman tightly from head to toe in white cloth, burying her up to her shoulders in sand, and pelting her to death with large stones. Yesterday late in the afternoon Iran’s government denied reports that Ashtiani will be executed by stoning, though her death sentence may still be carried out by some other method, likely hanging. Knowledgeable Iranian human rights activists, including Amnesty International, question the veracity of this statement and remain deeply concerned about Ashtiani’s fate. WE must not let Ashtinai become another victim of the debasing, inhuman treatment of women that has become the daily reality in Iran. Make your voice count and encourage others to do the same. Take action against the practice of stoning; take action against abuse of women, sign this petition.

The Power of Voices From 1982 to 1984, I was a teenage political prisoner in Evin Prison in Tehran. I was tortured and raped and watched my friends suffer and many of them die. So many innocent young lives devastated or lost. But the world went on, as if nothing had happened. We felt abandoned and forgotten in Evin. On Thursday morning, March 25, 2010, a beautiful sunny day, I stood in Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland and looked on a narrow road sandwiched between two rows of redbrick, two-storey buildings. Unlike the flimsy wooden barracks I had seen in other camps, these were well built and looked quite sturdy. Many tour buses were parked in the parking lot, and there were tourists from all ages and nationalities everywhere. I was on a trip organized by the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies. Birds sang in the pale sun, and the clear voice of our young tour guide, Anna, who was knowledgeable and professional, streamed through my headset — but I wasn’t listening. The bricks of Auschwitz were almost identical in colour to those of Evin. I reached out and touched them, and tears blinded me. We had just seen piles of thousands of the shoes of the victims of Auschwitz, and I remembered that in Evin, guards had taken away my white and red Puma running shoes and had given me rubber slippers instead. Where were my shoes and the ones of my prison friends? Had they been destroyed? We entered a barrack, and I looked into a bright, average-sized room with a wooden table in the middle and a few chairs around it. Anna explained that this room was used for arbitrary trials, and most of the prisoners tried here were sentenced to death and executed in the courtyard behind the building. In Evin prison, the Sharia judge who had condemned me to death had probably sat in a similar room and drank tea as he passed on verdicts. My survival was a miracle, but not everyone was as lucky as I was. Iran’s political prisons, including Evin, are still quite operational. People are tortured and executed in Iran on a daily basis. When atrocities happen, those who remain silent and don’t speak or act against evil become its accomplices. We cannot afford to wait for governments to bring about real change. I believe in the power of the individual. Each one of us can make the world a better place, even if only one small step at a time. We can create a ripple effect that will expand and eventually turn into a tsunami. Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani has been condemned to death in Iran. There are many others who are languishing like her in their grave-like cells, maybe facing painful deaths. They are not alone or forgotten. Even if we don’t know all their names, we are with them. I do not believe in violence, but I do believe in the power of voices coming together as one. Let’s get our voices heard. Marina Nemat is the author of “Prisoner of Tehran.” Her second memoir, “After Tehran,” will be released this September.

Plea to the world by Sakineh’s Children Do not allow our nightmare become a reality, Protest against our mother’s stoning! Today we stretch out our hands to the people of the whole world. It is now five years that we have lived in fear and in horror, deprived of motherly love. Is the world so cruel that it can watch this catastrophe and do nothing about it? We are Sakine Mohammadi e Ashtiani’s children, Fasride and Sajjad Mohamamadi e Ashtiani. Since our childhood we have been acquainted with the pain of knowing that our mother is imprisoned and awaiting a catastrophe. To tell the truth, the term “stoning” is so horrific that we try never to use it. We instead say our mother is in danger, she might be killed, and she deserves everyone’s help. Today, when nearly all options have reached dead-ends, and our mother’s lawyer says that she is in a dangerous situation, we resort to you. We resort to the people of the world, no matter who you are and where in the world you live. We resort to you, people of Iran, all of you who have experienced the pain and anguish of the horror of losing a loved one. Please help our mother return home! We especially stretch our hand out to the Iranians living abroad. Help to prevent this nightmare from becoming reality. Save our mother. We are unable to explain the anguish of every moment, every second of our lives. Words are unable to articulate our fear… Help to save our mother. Write to and ask officials to free her. Tell them that she doesn’t have a civil complainant and has not done any wrong. Our mother should not be killed. Is there any one hearing this and rushing to our assistance? Faride and Sajjad Mohammadi e Ashtiani

WE the undersigned are aware of the unjust treatment of Sakineh Ashtiani.  WE CALL FOR SAKINEH ASHTIANI'S IMMEDIATE RELEASE. We also call for the elimination of stoning as a practice in Iran, a practice which violates any and all definitions of human rights. In as much as Iran is a signatory to the International Declaration of Human Rights and related Conventions, we call upon Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the leaders of Iran to take responsibility for their commitments and intervene to free this woman who is being unjustly punished.  WE also ask for the immediate end to stoning.   No matter what the differences are in religious or political beliefs, Iran must participate, along with all other nations, in creating a world where basic human rights and fundamental humanity prevail. Stoning is barbaric.... And it must be stopped. Facebook Event: International Day Against Stoning July 11th is International Day Against Stoning by execution. This is the most brutal, inhumane, cruel and barbaric method of the death penalty. It is the ultimate denial of human rights, such as the right to life and the right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhumane or degrading punishment/treatment as proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The act of punishing individuals by stoning them to death in today's world is such an unacceptable and inhumane 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. I am 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. 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. The Iranian authorities continue to sentence people to death by stoning. Currently there are at least 11 individuals at risk of execution by stoning. According to Iran's Penal Code, execution by stoning is prescribed for "adultery while being married". The Penal Code specifies the manner of execution and types of stones that should be used. Article 102 states that men will be buried up to their waists and women up to their breasts for the purpose of execution by stoning. Article 104 states, with reference to the penalty for adultery, that the stones used should "not be large enough to kill the person by one or two strikes; nor should they be so small that they could not be defined as stones". This makes it clear that the purpose of stoning is to inflict pain in a process leading to slow death. In mid-2006, a group of Iranian human rights defenders, mostly women, including activists, journalist and lawyers, began a campaign to abolish stoning. The 'Stop Stoning Forever' Campaign aims to save the life of anyone under sentence of stoning in Iran and to abolish stoning in law and in practice. Since the campaign began, at least 15 individuals have been saved from stoning and others have been granted stays of execution. However, in at least three cases, individuals sentenced to stoning have been executed by hanging. This Sunday, 11th July is International Day Against Stoning. In such 'advanced' times as those in which we are supposedly living, such a thing still needs to exist? There is still a movement trying to end stoning as a form of capital punishment? Such practices STILL occur? Yes. They do. I have known for a long time that this is the case but I still can't quite believe it. Of course that is a luxury that many women do not have - not believing it to be the case. This Sunday, 11th July is International Day Against Stoning. I have to keep saying it to remind myself that this is actually real, in this day and age of so-called civilization. Stoning as a form of punishment and execution will be familiar to most of us from the stories and tales within the three main holy books. The majority of nations and religions have evolved and moved past using this although the death penalty does still exist in other forms. Within the last decade a number of Muslim countries have handed down and carried out sentences of stoning as part of Islamic Sharia Law. In Iran 3 people were stoned to death in 2006/07 and 9 women and 2 men have been sentenced to death by stoning since January 2008. In Somalia in October 2008 Aisho Ibrahim Dhuhulow was buried up to her neck and stoned to death in front or over 1000 people at a football stadium having earlier plead guilty to adultery. It was later found that she was 13 years old. Stoning is also known to be used as a method of execution both with and without trial in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Nigeria and United Arab Emirates. When stoning a person 'the stones used must be large enough to cause the condemned pain, but not sufficient to kill immediately.' For more information about the ins and outs of Sharia Law and the punishments prescribed under it please have a look through this very disturbing English translation of The Islamic Penal Code of Iran. This Sunday, 11th July is International Day Against Stoning. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is a 43 year old Iranian mother of two. She was sentenced to death by stoning for the 'crime' of adultery. International governments, campaigners and activists have fought against this sentence and the Islamic Republic of Iran has announced that she will no longer be stoned for her crime. This is not a victory however as she will now likely be hanged instead. The AIM is one of the many organisations that has petitioned against the sentence, and we will continue to do so. We will continue in the struggle against this barbaric and cruel practice until the battle is won. This Sunday, 11th July is International Day Against Stoning. To mark this day, please join us in some kind of protest or act of solidarity. Instead of a rally or protest you may wish to perform your own act of solidarity. Be creative and do whatever feels right to you based on the circumstances you are in but be sure to share your act of solidarity with the world. Take pictures or film it and please send it to us to share on our site, or to our friends and fellow activists at Mission Free Iran. Some examples of things you might do are to recite a poem or perform a song to the camera, publish a piece of writing on the subject, lay a stone somewhere with a message of support, have friends, family and passers by write messages of support and lay them held down with stones. Write the names of recent victims of stoning and those currently facing death by stoning on stones and lay them in solidarity. Go to a public place and hold up a sign or picture. Hand out leaflets or petitions. Whatever you do, please do something. I am against the death penalty in all cases and carried out in any way, but I find the act of stoning a person to death to be particularly cruel, and it is made even more so by it's method of application. It is often applied without fair trial, sometimes even without a trial at all, and is commonly used for such 'crimes' as adultery, homosexuality and political dissent. This Sunday, 11th July is International Day Against Stoning. Please, do something. We as citizens and organizations must demand and stress the need to change all laws contrary to basic human rights, especially the death penalty. Being stoned to death is brutality and draconian in nature and in practice. There are no crimes which deserve the death penalty, as that devalues the human life, and especially stoning to death. We insist that this inhumane practice be abolished forever, worldwide. Stop Stoning Forever Petition (http://www.petitiononline.com/nostones/) Stop Stoning! (http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_stoning/?cl=651973525&v=6766) International Committee Against Stoning (http://stopstonningnow.com/sakine/sakin284.php?nr=50326944&lang=en) http://theaimresistance.blogspot.com/2010/07/international-day-against-stoning.html http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/MDE13/014/2009/en http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoning End execution by Stoning in Iran (http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/end-execution-stoning-iran) Take Action 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. http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/end-execution-stoning-iran

Death by stoning is brutal, savage, barbaric, immoral and uncivilized. Sign the petition to help end executions by stoning in Iran! It is the ultimate violation of human rights, as nobody is supposed to be subjected to torture, or to cruel, inhumane and degrading punishment/treatment. Stoning is barbaric and it must be stopped.

Stoning is the most brutal, inhumane, cruel, uncivilized and barbaric method of execution. Stop stoning and free this woman!

Please take action to support the abolition of death by stoning. This is the most brutal, barbaric, inhumane, cruel and degrading punishment. This draconian method of the death penalty should not be condoned or tolerated in the 21st century. Please help and do something to support the movement!

July 11th is the International Day Against Stoning! Please sign a petition and take action to abolish this brutal, inhumane, cruel and degrading punishment worldwide. This should not be condoned or tolerated in the 21st century!

Take action to abolish the barbaric execution method of stoning in Iran, but also to abolish all forms of the death penalty worldwide! They are all cruel and inhumane. This barbaric and inhumane act of stoning MUST STOP! Please sign this protest letter if you agree with me!

Take action to abolish the barbaric execution method of stoning but also to abolish the death penalty worldwide! 

Sign the petition to stop executions by stoning! It's not just that innocent people are executed, it's that the death penalty, no matter how or where it is administered-- is inhumane and cruel. We must demand that stoning be stopped but also demand an end to all death penalties, in all their forms, in every country! Take action against the death penalty!

Stoning is the most vile and repugnant form of execution. But lethal injection is just as barbaric as stoning is. The drugs used are not even considered a humane mixture for euthanizing animals! The condemned can suffer tremendously, because their suffering is masked by a paralytic agent. In some states, these drugs are banned for use on animals; yet it continues to be used on humans! Many of the administrators are not well-trained which can cause the person undue suffering.

Stoning as a form of capital punishment is medieval brutality! All forms of the death penalty are barbaric and inhumane, but this form, is the most inhumane, cruel, uncivilized and immoral forms of them all! This method is discriminatory as it is given disproportionately to women. Death by stoning, as initiated by the ...government, is torture and is the most cruel and pre-meditated murder.

All forms of the death penalty are inhumane, but archaic methods such as stoning are especially cruel and barbaric.