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Wednesday 22 September 2010

Stoning people to death is wrong - Is that a controversial view?

I am writing so as to ask that the UN general assembly to condemn stoning as a crime against humanity and issue an emergency resolution calling for an end to the medieval and barbaric punishment as well as the immediate release of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani and others sentenced to death by stoning.

I also ask that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad not be allowed to again address the general assembly and that his government now be boycotted.

A government that still stones people to death in the 21st century must have no place in the United Nations or any other international institution or body.


If you agree with me please email inquiries@un.org

Don't forget what stoning to death involves:
'stoning is the most egregious and barbaric form of execution. The law even specifies the size of stone to be used. Prior to the stoning, the bodies of the victims are washed in the same way the dead are (whilst they are alive), wrapped in a shroud, and then buried in a ditch – up to the waist for men and chest for women. They are then pelted with stones – on prison grounds or in their already dug out graves – until they are dead.'

'First, you get buried. Iran's Islamic Penal Code states that men convicted of adultery are to be buried in the ground up to their waists; women, up to their chests. If the conviction is based on the prisoner's confession, the law says, the presiding judge casts the first stone. If the conviction is based on witness testimony, the witnesses throw the first stones, then the judge, then everyone else—generally other court officials and security forces. Stones must be of medium size, according to the penal code: Not so big that one or two could kill the person, but not so small that you would call it a pebble. In other words, about the size of a tangerine. The whole process takes less than an hour.'


For more please read my piece and Stop Stoning Now.

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