Women’s
Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
Public Statement
CONTACT:
press@wfafi.org
December 2, 2008
Two other women are sentenced to stoning and execution in Iran
BOSTON, MA- In the last few days two women have been sentenced to death by stoning and execution. Public hanging and execution have been on the rise in recent months. There has been more than 240 cases of public hangings and executions in 2008. With compare to 2007, execution of juveniles has increased three fold in Iran. No country in the world executes minors except Iran. In July 2008, Tehran's regime sentenced eight women to stoning. Currently there are 14 women who face stoning to death in Iran. No other country practices stoning except Iran. In recent days, however, Tehran has set a new record of violence against women:
On November 29, 2008
Iran's supreme court has confirmed a sentence of death by stoning sentence for Afsaneh R. in the southern city of Shiraz. Afsaneh is charged with murdering her husband with the help of a man identified as Reza. She and Reza were also charged with committing adultery. While Afsaneh faces stoning, Reza had been sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery charges and 15-years-prison terms for murder charges. According to Iran's constitution, adultery is punishable by stoning, which involves the public hurling stones at the convict buried up to his waist. A woman is buried up to her shoulders.
On November 30, 2008
Iran's fundamentalist regime has sentenced a pregnant women to death in the town of Roudan in south of Iran. According to reports received from Iran, the female victim in Roudan, Shahla, and her husband Shahram faced sever interrogations in prison since their arrest. The revolutionary court judge is claiming that these victims have "confessed" to have been engaged in "drug trafficking" and now face execution. The couple never had a criminal record and come from illiterate and under-privileged backgrounds. The revolutionary court never presented any evidence of their trafficking activities and according to regime's own prosecutor in Roudan, Jafar Hamzei, "they had not succeeded to sell any drugs..." The couple did not have legal defense representation for their case.
The Women's Forum Against Fundamentalism in Iran (WFAFI) calls upon all governments, human rights organizations and the United Nations to hold Tehran
responsible for its gross violations of human rights. Stoning and execution must
come to an end in Iran. The leaders of the Islamic
Fundamentalist regime must be brought to justice for their shameful actions
against women. WFAFI believes that the policy of silence on such violence has only emboldened
Ahmadinejad and the
mullahs to escalate their atrocities and crimes against humanity . The lack of decisive
position by West is interpreted by Tehran as the green light to further violate
the rights of its citizens, particularly women. Defense of human rights is
defense of women's rights in Iran. The issue of human rights in Iran is indeed a
political issue and the international community must support the Iranian people
and their aspirations for democratic change.
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