Stoning Cases and Stoning Sentences supporting the Special Rapporteur’s September 2012 Report

This supplement provides documented cases of individuals facing stoning sentences that served as the basis of Dr. Shaheed’s September 2012 report presented to the UNGA. The documentation is based on primary interviews and secondary research conducted for the September 2012 report (Click here for full supplement).

Report Supplement

Septmber 13, 2012

 

II. Stoning – Trends

11. Despite a 2002 moratorium on stoning declared by the Iranian Head of the Judiciary, the sentence continues to be handed out for a wide variety of convictions, and remains technically mandatory for cases of “adultery while married.” Stoning is widely recognized as a form of torture, a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and a violation of the international prohibition on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. While the new Iranian Penal Code appears to omit reference to stoning, judges are still required to pass sentences in accordance with their understanding of Islamic law, thereby potentially nullifying any apparent shift in policy. Moreover, in January 2009, the Spokesperson for the Judiciary stated that the 2002 directive to judges on the moratorium had no legal weight and that it could be ignored.[5]

II.a. Updates on Previously-Reported Stoning Cases

12. Ten of the 15 individuals listed as “believed to be at risk of death by stoning” in Amnesty International’s 2010 Report: Iran: Executions by Stoning, appear to remain at risk of this punishment. Two of the individuals, Mr. Rahim Mohammadi and someone identified only as M. Kh.,” appear to have been executed by hanging instead of stoning. The sentences of another two people, Mrs. Maryam Ghorbanzadeh and Mrs. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, were converted from stoning to hanging but appear to not yet have been carried out. The sentence of Mrs. Azer Bageri, who was a minor when sentenced, appears to have been changed to flogging.

13. The other ten individuals listed in the report – Mrs. Iran Eskandari, Mrs. Khayrieh Valania, Mrs. Ashraf Kalhori, Mrs. Kobra Babaei , Mrs. “Hashemi Nasab,” Mr. Abbas Hassani, Mrs. Sarieh Ebadi, Mr. (Vali) Bu-Ali Janfeshan, Mr. Mohammad Ali Navid Khomami, and Mr. Naghi Ahmadi – appear to remain at risk of stoning. All of these individuals were sentenced to stoning on charges of “adultery.”

14. In the case of Mr. Iran Eskandari, according to reports, she was talking to the son of a neighbor on her property when her husband attacked her with a knife, leaving her bleeding and unconscious on the floor. While she was unconscious, the neighbor’s son allegedly killed her husband. When police interrogated her, she reportedly admitted to adultery with her neighbor’s son, but she later retracted this “confession.” In June 2007 the Discernment Branch of the Supreme Court overturned the stoning sentence and sent her case back for retrial before a criminal court in Khuzestan, where that sentence was re-imposed.

15. Ashraf Kalhori (or Kalhor), around age 40 and a mother of four, was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery and to 15-years’ imprisonment for taking part in the murder of her husband in April 2002. Her prior request to divorce him had been rejected by a judge. She claimed that the killing was accidental, but police accused her of having an affair with a neighbor and encouraging the attack. She was reported to have “confessed” to adultery under police interrogation, but later retracted her statement. She was scheduled to be stoned before the end of July 2006, but her execution was temporarily stayed. On July 23, 2009, it was reported that the Amnesty and Clemency Commission had rejected her plea.[6]

Table 2

Update on Individuals Condemned to Stoning According to 2010 Amnesty International Report ^[14]

Name	Update
1. Mrs. Maryam Ghorbanzadeh	As of August 2010, her sentence had been changed from stoning to hanging, and she was forced to have an abortion at six months in order to be executed. No further information on whether or not that execution was carried out.
2. Mrs. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani	By January 2011, her stoning sentence was suspended, and she remains alive in prison, although a month before the sentence change Iranian authorities committed to executing her by hanging in lieu of stoning. No further information on whether or not that execution was carried out.
3. Mrs. Azer Bageri	An appeals court changed her sentence to flogging, but since she is now of age to be stoned according to Iranian law, her lawyer still worries that stoning may await stoning.
4. Mrs. Iran Eskandari	In 2007, an appeals court re-imposed the stoning sentence that the Supreme Court had overturned. No public updates as to whether or not her stoning sentence has been carried out.
5. Mrs. Khayrieh Valania	No public updates on whether or not her 2006 stoning sentence has been carried out.
6. Mrs. Ashraf Kalhori	No public updates on whether or not her 2009 stoning re-sentencing has been carried out.
7. Mrs. Kobra Babaei	No public updates on whether or not her 2008 stoning sentencing has been carried out.
8. Mr. Rahim Mohammadi	Was executed by hanging.
9. “Mrs. Kh.”	Was executed in October 2010 by hanging.
10. Mrs. “Hashemi Nasab”	No public updates since Amnesty’s 2010 report on his sentencing.
11. Mr. Abbas Hassani	No public updates since Amnesty’s 2010 report on his sentencing.
12. Mr Sarieh Ebadi	No public updates since Amnesty’s 2010 report on his sentencing.
13. Mrs. (Vali) Bu-Ali Janfeshan	No public updates since Amnesty’s 2010 report on his sentencing.
14. Mr. Mohammad Ali Navid Khomami	No public updates since Amnesty’s 2010 report on his sentencing.
15. Mrs. Naghi Ahmadi	No public updates since Amnesty’s 2010 report on his sentencing.