On The Front Lines
John W. Whitehead Urges President Bush to Put Aside Politics, Speak Out Against Stoning of Women and Inhumane Death Sentences in Iran
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, has called on President Bush to exercise his moral authority by directing the U.S. State Department to condemn Iran's practice of inhumane executions of women by public stoning and hanging. In a letter sent to President Bush, members of Congress and other key dignitaries, Whitehead also called on Bush to urge other world leaders to demand that Iran abide by its obligations under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to ban stoning and other cruel and inhumane methods of execution and, thus, show clemency to women who have been sentenced to death by stoning after being found guilty of adultery. A copy of Whitehead's letter is available here.
"While diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran remain strained, that does not absolve the United States from its responsibility as a world leader to speak out against inhumane practices and human rights abuses taking place in that country," stated Whitehead. "If, as a nation, we remain steadfastly opposed to injustice and tyranny wherever it occurs in the world, then we can have no other recourse than to condemn Iran's practice of stoning women to death, especially on charges of adultery."
Provisions contained within Iran's Penal Code mandate the stoning of women convicted of adultery. Reports that such death sentences are being carried out are consistent with the U.S. State Department's 2001 report on Iran and recent news that has surfaced of stoning sentences being meted out. For example, on or about June 29, 2006, an Iranian court sentenced Malak Ghorbany, a 34-year-old mother of two, to death by stoning after finding her guilty of adultery. In contrast, two men who were found guilty of murder in the same court were reportedly only given jail sentences of six years. Research into the practice of death by stoning indicates that the female victim is placed in a deep pit and covered with dirt, leaving only her head and shoulders exposed. Members of the community are then invited to hurl rocks at her head until she has been beaten to death. The size of the stones used during the execution are required to be a certain size--not so large that they would kill a woman too quickly, nor so small that they would fail to cause serious injury or pain. In asking President Bush to speak out against Iran's practice of stoning women to death, Whitehead stated, "To remain silent about such blatant injustice will render meaningless whatever America has to say on human rights, women's rights in particular."
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