By Country / Iran
Amnesty International Calls On Iran To Abolish Stoning
October 10, 2006
October 10, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan has called on Iran's government to abolish the practice of execution by stoning.
The call was made today on the occasion of the fourth World Day Against the Death Penalty, which is organized by the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty and supported by the European Union.
Amnesty International says up to nine women and two men have been sentenced to death by stoning in Iran despite a moratorium.
The rights group calls it appalling that some Iranian authorities have attempted to revive the practice, which it describes as obscene, despite the moratorium on such killings that was reportedly imposed by the head of the judiciary in 2002.
In recent months, a group of human rights defenders in Iran, mostly women, have begun a campaign to put an end to death sentences by stoning.
Amnesty International has described stoning as the ultimate form of torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment.