On July 11, Arifa Bibi, a young
mother of two, was stoned to death in Pakistan. Her only "crime" was
possessing a cellphone. In response to Bibi's killing, and others like
it, a movement is building. More than 10,000 people have signed a petition
calling on the UN to eradicate this inhumane punishment. As Arifa’s
story shows, stoning is as prevalent today as it has ever been.
Understanding why and how this practice occurs is crucial to tackling
it. Here are the answers to common questions about stoning. You can
learn more about the fight to eradicate stoning by visiting Women Living Under Muslim Laws.
1. What is stoning?
Stoning
(also known as lapidation) is a form of execution. It is a method by
which a group throws stones at a person until they are dead.
2. Surely that doesn't happen anymore? It's 2013...
Stoning still happens today. There are 15 countries
in which stoning is either practiced or authorized by law, even if it
has never been practiced. In Iran, Mauritania, Nigeria (in one-third of
the country's states), Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan,
the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, stoning is a legal punishment.
However, out of these countries, only in Iran, Pakistan and Somalia have
stonings actually occurred, and all instances in Pakistan have occurred
outside the legal system.
By comparison, three of the remaining
five countries (Afghanistan, Iraq, and Mali) do not condone stoning in
national legislation, but sentences and executions have been carried out
by non-state actors. In the Aceh region of Indonesia and Malaysia,
stoning is sanctioned regionally but banned nationally.
3. Who is stoned to death, and why?
Stoning is used as a punishment for adultery, or zina.
It is a method used to control the sexuality and bodies of both men and
women, but women are more often the victims. The issue of stoning takes
place within the much broader conversation about gender discrimination,
women’s basic freedoms and culturally-justified violence against women.
Simply put, women are more likely to be found guilty of adultery than
men – because the hegemonic interpretations of Islamic law, personal
status laws, poverty, and illiteracy among women all increase the likelihood of their conviction, either in a court of law or by the community.
4. Can you give me an example?
Take Aisha’s story,
for example. In 2008, Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow, a 13-year-old Somali girl,
was buried up to her neck and stoned by 50 men in front of 1,000 people
at a stadium in Southern Somalia. Amnesty International reports that
her father said she had been raped by three men, but was accused of
adultery when she tried to report the rape to the Al-Shabaab militia who
controlled the city.
5. So, stoning is religiously justified?
Although
Islam and Muslim codes of law are often used to justify the use of
stoning as a punishment for adultery, there is actually no reference to
stoning in the Koran. Furthermore, there are many prominent clerics and
religious scholars who openly oppose the practice of stoning and have
called it "Islamically unjustifiable." For example, Grand Ayatollah
Yousef Sanei, a very prominent Shi’a cleric in Iran, issued a fatwa (a religious edict) against the practice of stoning
6. How has the international community responded to the practice of stoning?
Although
there is consensus within the international community that stoning
violates a host of UN treaties and international human rights laws —
including the fundamental right to freedom from torture — there are no
legally binding commitments at the international level with regards to
stoning.
7. So, stoning is a brutal form of punishment, that profoundly violates human rights, is still in use today, and there is no international law to condemn it?
Yes, that’s exactly right.
8. I had no idea. What can I do about it?
Join the movement. Since 2006, men and women all across the globe have been calling for an end to stoning.
Stoning
is already in violation of a host of international human rights
treaties, and has been widely condemned as torture by the international
community. By raising this issue in this context, we have real
opportunity to bring about the legislative change that ends it.
The organization Women Living Under Muslim Laws
is gathering signatures to call upon UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
and the UN high commissioner for human rights to denounce stoning as one
of the most brutal forms of violence against women. If the UN speaks
out, it could mean the start of substantive legislative change.
9. Where can I learn more?
If you would like to know more, you can see a mapping report on stoning which gives a detailed discussion of the points raised here, a comparative analysis of the Iranian and Nigerian cases, and an excellent article discussing why it is important to address the issue of stoning today.
Saudi Courts decides to stone mother of two ....
because of illicit affair..
Riyadh Courts in Saudi Arabia has ordered that a Sri Lankan woman who has gone to Saudi Arabia as a house-maid was found guilty of sexual intimacy and
that she be stoned to death. The said woman was a resident of Maradana and a mother of 2 children and she had gone to work as a house-maid in Saudi a few years before.
She had got involved with another Sri Lankan youth employed in Saudi and she had admitted guilty to that offence in courts of that country. It was for that reason that it was decided to stone her to death according to Saudi Law. It is understood that the young man concerned too has been subjected by Saudi Courts to 100 lashes. It was reported that Minister of Foreign Employment Mrs. Thalatha Athukorala has made an appeal to Saudi Government to abate the punishment sentenced to her. Prior to this the Saudi Government had decided to take the life of the child Rizana Nafeek and the Sri Lankan Government was not successful in preventing the sentence until she was prosecuted in a similar manner.
Ref:http://www.english.gossiplankanews.com/2015/11/saudi-courts-decides-to-stone-mother-of.html
No comments:
Post a Comment