Nearly a month ago, Lynn Harris wrote about a scheduled public stoning of an Iranian couple convicted of adultery. The stoning was stayed thanks to intense international pressure, but, unfortunately, that success was short-lived. We just got word by way of a press release from the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign (via Equality Now) that Jafar Kiani was stoned to death last Thursday in a village near Takistan and, for the first time in five years, Iran is actually acknowledging that the stoning took place.
Here's the quick back story: A judge determined -- based on his own "knowledge" -- that Kiani and his partner Mokarrameh Ebrahimi had not been married legitimately and sentenced them to death by stoning for adultery; the couple, who had two children together, spent the past 11 years in prison awaiting their execution. Now that Kiani has been executed, human rights activists say Ebrahimi is in imminent danger.
We've put a couple calls out to activists for some specific pointers on how to most effectively protest Kiani's stoning and prevent Ebrahimi from meeting the same fate. But for now, the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign suggests getting Iranian officials on the phone -- or, maybe more realistically, telling their answering machines what for -- and have helpfully provided a (slightly intimidating) list of phone numbers. After giving President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a piece of your mind, you can head over to the campaign's Web site and sign its petition to put an end to stoning in Iran.
We'll keep you posted.
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