SOSPESE LE CONDANNE A MORTE PER LAPIDAZIONE

 TEHERAN, 26 DIC - L'Iran si appresterebbe ad abolire la PENA DI MORTE mediante lapidazione, tradizionalmente applicata secondo i dettami coranici ai colpevoli di adulterio.

   A quanto riferisce un quotidiano di Teheran che ha interpellato in proposito alcuni alti esponenti della magistratura iraniana, una moratoria per questo tipo di esecuzioni sarebbe stata disposta dopo che l'Unione europea ha posto il rispetto dei diritti umani quale condizione preliminare per la firma di importanti accordi commerciali con l'Iran.

   Il giornale Bahar riferisce le parole del presidente del tribunale amministrativo, Qorbanali Najafabadi, secondo il quale le esecuzioni tramite lapidazione ''sono state per il momento bloccate'' e cita un parlamentare progressista, Jamileh Kadivar, al quale risulta che il capo della magistratura, l'ayatollag Mahmud Hashemi Shahrudi, ha ordinato ai giudici di non emettere piu' sentenze di questo tipo.

   Statistiche ufficiali al riguardo non sono disponibili, ma e' certo che sentenze di morte per lapidazione vengono sporadicamente eseguite in Iran. Almeno due donne sono state giustiziate in questo modo lo scorso anno.

   All'inizio di dicembre Unione europea ed Iran hanno avviato un negoziato economico-commerciale che rappresenta la maggiore apertura di Teheran verso l'Occidente dal 1979, ovvero dalla presa di ostaggi nell'ambasciata degli Stati Uniti. Nel corso delle trattive la Ue ha sottolineato l'importanza di un maggior rispetto dei diritti umani da parte dell'Iran.

   Il presidente Mohammad Khatami e diversi esponenti del suo governo progressista hanno piu' volte sottolineato che la pratica della lapidazione non solo espone l'Iran all'esecrazione del mondo occiodentale ma puo' compromettere le relazioni economiche e commerciali con l'Unione europea.

27 December, 2002

Iran stops stoning of women adulterers

Women politicians want the law to be repealed

By Jim Muir

BBC correspondent in Tehran 

 Iran has abolished stoning as a form of capital punishment for women, a senior judiciary official in Iran has been quoted as saying.

The head of the judiciary is reported to have instructed judges not to implement the sentence, which is in line with a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Human rights organisations have strongly condemned the custom. 

Two women were stoned to death last year

In practice, although the stoning of adulteresses remains on the statute books, it has become extremely rare.

 There were two cases in the first half of 2001, but they were the first for many years and there have not been any reported since.

 Reformists, in particular, are against the practice in principle.

 They are also keenly aware of the impact it has on Iran's image abroad.

 Last year's stonings were practically the only news about Iran carried by some Western newspapers.

 Women members of the Iranian parliament have been actively campaigning to have the practice removed from the law books, arguing that it is not a clear-cut Koranic prescription.

 Crackdown fears

 One of the campaign leaders, MP Jamileh Kadivar, is quoted in a Tehran newspaper as saying that the head of the judiciary has circulated an instruction to judges not to resort to the stoning penalty.

 A senior judiciary official also confirmed that the practice had been suspended since some time ago.

 Women's rights campaigners clearly will not be satisfied until it is actually taken off the statute books.

 The impression was that last year's sudden revival of stonings was part of a right-wing crackdown which could happen again.

 The issue has been frequently raised by Iran's western interlocutors, most recently the European Union, which has opened talks with Tehran on human rights matters as part of a broader dialogue aimed at improving relations.

  IRAN-STONING

    Iran bans death penalty by stoning, paper

By Khosro Nazari

TEHRAN, Dec 26  - Iran has abolished stoning as a form of capital punishment, an Iranian newspaper reported on Thursday, in an   apparent bid to ease European Union human rights concerns ahead of a  possible breakthrough trade agreement.

      The daily newspaper Bahar quoted Qorbanali Dorri Najafabadi, the former  intelligence minister who heads the Supreme Administrative Court as saying,  "The practice has been stopped for a while." 

    The newspaper also cited a  reformist parliamentarian as saying the head of Judiciary had sent a  directive to judges instructing them to stop issuing death verdicts by  stoning.

      "To the best of my knowledge, Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi has  ordered that execution by stoning should be stopped," said Jamileh Kadivar.

      Judiciary officials were not immediately available to comment.

      Under Iran's strict Islamic law, in place since the 1979 Islamic revolution, men and women convicted of adultery are normally sentenced to death by stoning. The condemned are buried in a pit -- men up to their  waists, women their armpits -- and pelted with stones.

      According to the law, the stones must be big enough to injure but not kill with just a few blows. If the victim manages to dig themselves out then they are acquitted.

      Officials in the Islamic Republic refuse to say how often stonings are carried out, but at least two women were reported to have been stoned to death last year.

      The European Union and Iran began negotiations on a trade agreement earlier this month in what is seen as the most serious Western attempt to engage Iran since 1979. But the EU has insisted that Iran take steps to improve its human rights record.

      Moderate President Mohammad Khatami and his reformist allies have tried to get hardliners to ban stoning, arguing it would not only tarnish the image of Iran in the eye of the world but also adversely affect Tehran's relationship with the EU.

      But differing interpretations of Islamic Sharia law has made the issue so sensitive that the government appears grudging to make the directive public, fearing a backlash by hardline judges.

      While stonings are rare, execution by hanging is common for murder, rape, drug smuggling and armed robbery.