The punishment for adultery in Iran is execution by stoning. Eleven people currently await this punishment despite an official moratorium on the practice issued in 2002. Amnesty International’s report calls for end to stoning and an end to the punishment of execution in any form for the crime of adultery.
The report cites evidence that the majority of defendants sentenced to death by stoning are women, typically after unfair trials that capitalize on the increased vulnerability and unequal treatment of women under the law.
The group Stop Stoning Forever in Iran has been protesting and bringing international attention to the issue. Their efforts have saved five people from stoning thus far.
To read the AI report: Campaign to End Stoning in Iran
Compiled from: “Campaign to End Stoning in Iran,” Amnesty International, 15 January 2008.