Iran: UPDATE: Temporary Success: Stoning of Mokarrameh and her Partner Suspended

The Stop Stoning Forever Campaign would like to thank all the individuals and organizations who have contacted the Iranian officials and pled for the lives of the couple. Despite the short time for action, many people and human rights organizations raised their opposition to stoning of the couple and shared their concerns with the Iranian judiciary officials. The Stop Stoning Forever Campaign owes this temporary success to the overwhelming support of the many conscience citizens of the world.

It is crucial to understand that the stoning sentence of Mokarrameh Ebrahimi and her partner is still legally in effect and it is only the implementation of the sentence that has been suspended. Another woman, Kobra Najjar, who is also the mother of four children and had been forced to prostitution by her husband, a drug addict, is also facing stoning to death after her appeal to the Judiciary Commission for Amnesty and Clemency was rejected for the third time last week. Furthermore, there are at least seven other men and women who are sentenced to stoning for having committed adultery.

In order to save the lives of Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, her partner, Kobra Najjar, and all the other men and women who have been sentenced to stoning, the loud opposition to stoning shall continue until the Iranian legal system puts an end to stoning.

In May 2006, a man and a woman, Abbas and Mahboubeh, were stoned in Mashhad for having committed adultery, and a woman named Masoumeh was hanged in Evin prison for adultery in October 2006. The Stop Stoning Forever Campaign activists fear that other forms of the death penalty might replace stoning, if the law is not changed.

We are urging you to please continue the efforts to abolish stoning in Iran. Together, we can stop stoning forever all over the world.

To learn more about the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign, please visit the site www.stopstoning.org or contact Soheila Vahdati soheilavahdati@gmail.com in the US and Shadi Sadr shadisadr@gmail.com in Iran.

20 June 2007