Women’s
Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PUBLIC STATEMENT
CONTACT: press@wfafi.org
July 27, 2006
A 37-Year-Old Woman, Ashraf Kahlhor, Facing an Imminent Death By Stoning in Iran
BOSTON, MA- A 37- year -old woman named Ashraf Kalhori has been convicted of adultery and crimes against morality in Iran. She is facing imminent execution by being buried up to her chest and stoned to death.
Ashraf was arrested 5 years ago and has spent all this time in the notorious Evin prison in Tehran. According to her lawyer, Shadi Sadr, Ashraf's appeal has been turned down and her verdict will be carried out in two weeks.
The Islamic Republic of Iran's law specfies that the penalty for adultery under Article 83 of the penal code, called the Law of Hodoud is flogging (100 lashes of the whip) for unmarried male and female offenders. Married offenders may be punished by stoning regardless of their gender, but the method laid down for a man involves his burial up to his waist, and for a woman up to her neck (article 102). 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".
Currently there are 8 women in Iranian prisons who have been sentenced to death by the cruel punishment of stoning.
The Iranian regime along with Ahmadinejad must be held responsible and condemned for the gross violations of Human Rights of the Iranian people. The United States and European Union should pay attention to the crimes committed against humanity by the fundamentalist regime ruling Iran. They should not ignore the suffering of the people under the rule of the Mullahs only to advance their economic agendas.
Women's Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran (WFAFI) calls upon the international community, human rights organizations and the United Nations to fight for Ashraf and the other eight women and stop Tehran's regime from killing them so brutally.
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