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Stoning

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stoning, or lapidation, refers to a judicial or quasi-judicial execution method carried out by an organized group throwing stones or rocks.

Stoning has been used throughout history in a number of places as a form of capital punishment, both in the form of "community justice" and also as a judicial form of capital punishment. The practice was common among the ancient Greeks and in Judaism, and later in Islam, stoning was prescribed in religious texts as the punishment for a variety of sins.

Crimes sometimes historically punished by stoning include blasphemy, apostasy, prostitution, adultery, and murder.

Although not common, it remains in use in several Islamic countries both unofficially and officially.

Contents

[edit] Modern practice

Stoning is a legal sentence for certain activities deemed criminal in some (but not all) of the Islamic countries governed by Sharia law [1], including the following:

[edit] Iran

Capital punishment in Iran is legal, and can be executed in a number of ways, one of which has included stoning in the past. The Iranian judiciary has officially placed a moratorium on stoning, although the punishment remains on the books.[1]
In April 2002[7], the Iranian newspaper Entekhab reported that a woman called Ferdows B had been sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment, to be followed by death by stoning. Another woman who received a similar sentence was stoned to death in May 2001, after eight years in Tehran's Evin Prison. She had been convicted of adultery and corruption on earth.

In December 2005, Iran Focus reported a Tehran court's sentence of a woman to stoning in Varamin [8]. In the same report, Iran Focus reported the sentence of stoning on a man for armed robbery and murder in Nowshahr[8].

In June 2006, according to Iran Focus, a report about the stoning to death in May 2005 in Mashad of Mahboubeh Mohammadi, a teacher, and her sister's husband, both convicted of murdering Mahboubeh's husband, circulated on Persian-language websites.[9]. The stoning was allegedly carried out in the middle of the night in a cemetery.

In early July 2006, a report by ADN Kronos International[10] about the sentencing of Malak Ghorbany in Urmia to stoning for adultery started circulating widely in the internet[11] along with a petition against the sentence[12].

According to Amnesty International, Article 104 of the Iranian penal code states, with reference to the penalty for adultery: ...the stones should not be too large so that the person dies on being hit by one or two of them; they should not be so small either that they could not be defined as stones. Amnesty argues that this is clear evidence that "the punishment of stoning is designed to cause the victim grievous pain before death".[7]

In Iran, the convicted person to be killed is wrapped in a sheet and partially buried; male convicts are buried from the waist down, female convicts are buried to prevent the breasts from becoming exposed.

[edit] Nepal

In Nepal, Maoist guerillas who control certain areas of the country have used execution by stoning to enforce some of their mandates. (Article) While the guerillas are not recognized internationally as a legitimate government, this is a rare and noteworthy example of contemporary stoning used by a non-Islamic group.

[edit] Groups against the practice of stoning

Stoning has been condemned by many groups, both secular and religious, for a variety of reasons. Some groups, such Amnesty International [13] and Human Rights Watch, oppose all capital punishment, including stoning. Other groups, such as NCRI (the National Council of Resistance in Iran)[14], and RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan), oppose stoning per se as an especially cruel and sexist practice.

Specific sentences of stoning, such as the Amina Lawal case, have often generated international protest. Groups like Human Rights Watch [15], while in sympathy with these protests, have raised a concern that the Western focus on stoning as an especially exotic or barbaric act distracts from what they view as the larger problems of capital punishment. The argue that the "more fundamental human rights issue in Nigeria is the dysfunctional justice system."

[edit] Religious text

[edit] In Judaism

In the Old Testament of the Bible, stoning is specifically prescribed as the method of execution for crimes such as murder, blasphemy and apostasy, and in some cases adultery. However, the Talmud seriously limits the use of the death penalty to those criminals who were warned not to commit the crime in the presence of two witnesses, and persisted in committing the crime also in front of two witnesses[citation needed]. In the time these laws were used - approximately 400 years - there were only eight such executions[citation needed]. In Judaism there is no executioner who executes the criminal because by that he would himself be guilty of murder. In fact, the witnesses are required to throw the first stones. In this way stoning was used as a society punishment to the criminal and secondly there was no way of knowing which stone killed the criminal[citation needed].

Extract from Deuteronomy:

You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people. You shall stone him to death, because he tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt out of the land or slavery.

Deuteronomy(13:9-10)

[edit] In Islam

Main article: Rajm

The traditional Muslim view is that the punishment for adultery (Arabic: Zina (Arabic)) is stoning. In recent times, there is a renewed debate among Muslims regarding the interpretation of the hadith and verses regarding this issues.

[edit] Well known examples

[edit] Stoning in literature

  • Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" depicts a lottery in which one member of a small, isolated American community is stoned to death ritually each year as a sacrifice. It explores themes of scapegoating, man's inherent evil and the destructive nature of observing ancient, outdated rituals.
  • Robert A. Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land reaches its tension point with a stoning execution.

[edit] Stoning in film and television

  • Seven Sleepers (english translation), 2005 - A series running on Iranian TV, in which medieval (300-400 AD) Jews stone Christians [16].
  • A Stoning in Fulham County, 1988 - A made-for-TV movie surrounding the vigilante stoning in an American Amish community [17].
  • Sleeper Cell, 2005 - A Showtime original series. Members of the cell execute (by stoning) one of their members for talking openly with his uncle about planned terrorist attacks. [18].
  • Monty Python's Life of Brian presents a Jesus Christ-era stoning in a humorous context, ending with a massive boulder being dropped on the Jewish official, not the victim.
  • On the HBO prison show Oz, inmate William Giles was sentenced to death. Giles requested that he be stoned to death. This request caused capital punishment to be briefly overturned, only to be brought back with stricter rules.
  • Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" made into a short (20 minute) film by Larry Yust [2] in 1969 as part of an educational release for Encyclopaedia Britannica's "Short Story Showcase".
  • In the popular cartoon American dad the family was sentenced to be stoned after many sins done by various members of the family.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The Sharia: An Introduction", BBC. Retrieved on 2999-12-31.
  2. ^ "Nigerian man sentenced to stoning for gay sex", Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
  3. ^ "5th Delay in Nigerian Gay Trial".
  4. ^ "Imminent executions/Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Punishment", Sudan Human Rights Organization, Jan 08, 2002.
  5. ^ "An Afghan woman was stoned to death for adultery", Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), April 23, 2005.
  6. ^ "Fujairah Shariah court orders man to be stoned to death for adultery", Khaleej Times, June 11, 2006.
  7. ^ a b Iran:Fear of imminent executions by stoning. Amnesty International (May 9, 2002).
  8. ^ a b "Iran sentences men to stoning, amputation of fingers", December 27, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-07-08.
  9. ^ "Woman, man stoned to death in Iran - report", June 5, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-08.
  10. ^ "Iran: Woman sentenced to death by stoning", ADN Kronos International, June 29, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-07-08.
  11. ^ Iran: Islamic Justice - Woman Adulterer To be Stoned To Death, Murderers Get Jail. Retrieved on 2006-07-08.
  12. ^ Save Malak Ghorbany from Death by Public Stoning. petitiononline.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-08.
  13. ^ "Amina Lawal: Sentenced to death for adultery", Amnesty International, 2003.
  14. ^ "Iran: Another woman sentenced to death by stoning", Aug 12, 2006.
  15. ^ "Nigeria: Debunking Misconceptions on Stoning Case", Human Rights Watch, 2003.
  16. ^ "Iran TV: 'Evil' Jews stoning Christians", January 5, 2005.
  17. ^ "A Stoning in Fulham County", release date 1988.
  18. ^ "Sleeper Cell", Showtime, release date December 2005.

[edit] External links

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