Stoning: victims, survivors and the condemned

A major international outcry has saved one woman who was facing death by stoning after being convicted of adultery.

The Iranian Embassy confirmed to Channel 4 News that Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani will not face death by stoning – however it did not say whether she would still be executed by another means.

Ms Mohammadi-Ashtiani denies the charges of adultery and has already been punished, suffering 99 lashes in 2007.

Human rights organisations, including the International Committee against Stoning and Execution, said the fight to save her must go on.

Head of the organisation Mina Ahadi said: “Our pressure is working. We must intensify it until we secure a victory for the people of Iran by saving the lives of Sakineh and others. We mustn’t stop until we deprive the regime in Iran of this tool for suppression and murder.”

Iran: row over stoning of woman ‘adulterer’

However, as Channel 4 News has been told, a further 10 people are still facing this punishment in Iran. We cannot independently verify these stories.

Public sentiment in Iran seems to be turning against stoning as a punishment, and, as the Iranian Embassy confirmed to Channel 4 News, it is likely to be removed from law in the latest draft of the penal code.

An Embassy statement said: “It is notable that this kind of punishment has rarely been implemented in Iran and various means and remedies must be probed and exhausted to finally come up with such a punishment.

“It should be added that the stoning punishment has not been cited in the draft Islamic Penal Code being deliberated in the Iranian Parliament.”

The Global Campaign to stop Killing and Stoning Women said: “The vast majority of the Iranian people are vehemently opposed to stoning. There is no history of stoning ever taking place in Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and most Iranians find the practice revolting.”

Stoning has been a relatively minor form of execution for Iran’s prisoners for some time, Steve Ballinger from Amnesty International told Channel 4 News.

Last year, Iran executed 388 people in total. Since 2006, estimates vary, but the Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women suggests seven people have been stoned to death.

At risk of being stoned to death

The latest estimates from both Amnesty International and the Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women is that at least 10 people still face the punishment. Here are some of their stories:

Khayrieh was sentenced to death for being an accomplice to murder and to execution by stoning for adultery. She reportedly suffered violence at the hands of her husband and began an affair with a relative of her husband, who then murdered her husband. Khayrieh confessed to adultery but denied any involvement in the murder. The sentence was upheld, and the case has reportedly been sent off for permission to carry out the execution. 

Iran was talking to the son of a neighbour in the courtyard of her house when her husband attacked her with a knife. She was left bleeding and unconscious on the floor. While she was unconscious, the son of the neighbour allegedly killed her husband with the same knife. She reportedly confessed to adultery with the young man but then retracted her confession. She was sentenced to five years in prison and execution by stoning. Her sentence has reportedly been overturned, but no re-trial has taken place, and she remains in prison in Ahvaz city. 

Ashraf Kalhori is a mother of four, who was sentenced to death by stoning for adultery and to 15 years' imprisonment for taking part in the murder of her husband. She was accused of having an affair with her neighbour and encouraging the attack. She confessed, reportedly, under interrogation, but retracted her confession. She was due to be stoned to death in 2006, but campaigning has stayed her execution, so far.

Campaigners say, whatever the law eventually becomes, there are still people at risk now and only international pressure will save them.

Nadya Khalife, Middle East women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, told Channel 4 News: “International pressure is needed. The advocates inside the country are not allowed to put pressure on, or they are not getting anywhere. You have got to have international pressure. Iran has signed a number of treaties and needs to be held accountable.

“There was a moratorium in 2002 against stoning, and that needs to be taken seriously.”

“There was a moratorium in 2002 against stoning, and that needs to be taken seriously” Nadya Khalife

And the campaigns do seem to work – along with the limited victory achieved for Ms Mohammadi-Ashtiani, the human rights organisations estimate that increasingly large numbers of people have been saved or are close to being saved from death by stoning since 2006.

These people have also benefitted from the changing attitude towards stoning from both the authorities and the public in Iran mentioned above.

Some of the others initially facing stoning, such as Abdollah Farivar, were instead killed by hanging.