Iranian Woman Facing Execution by Stoning MAY be Spared

The global community has been holding its collective breath since it was reported that the execution by stoning of an Iranian woman sentenced to death for adultery was “imminent.”

Today, comes a new report from Tehran that there is a "good chance" that she could be spared, the head of Iran's High Human Rights Council said in an interview.

"Our judiciary made a lot of efforts (in reviewing the case) and we think there is a good chance her life could be saved," Mohammed Javad Larijani told Iran's English-language Press TV in an interview that aired today.

Larijani, who was speaking in English, did not give details of the judiciary's review of the Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani case or the basis of his optimism that her life would be spared.

His council works under the judiciary's auspices.

I, along with most other bloggers, have reported on this tragic case since it first came to the attention of the international community, continue to add my voice to theirs urging that this woman be spared.

The sentence handed down against Mohammadi-Ashtiani sparked international outrage and diplomatic intervention by several Western governments as well as the Vatican.

In July, Tehran said that the sentence to death by stoning had been stayed pending a full review of her case.

Mohammadi-Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, was initially given death sentences by two different courts in the northwestern city of Tabriz in separate trials in 2006.

A sentence to hang for her involvement in the murder of her husband was commuted to a 10-year jail term by an appeals court in 2007.

But a second sentence, to death by stoning on charges of adultery levelled over several relationships, notably with the man convicted of her husband's murder, was upheld by another appeals court the same year.

Larijani insisted Iran had never prevented Sakineh's lawyers from meeting with her but cautioned that legal representatives are not above the law.

"Anyone who conducts illegal activities must be held accountable before the law," he said, whether he is "a defender of human rights, a lawyer or a carpenter."

Sakineh's current lawyer, Javid Houtan Kian, was arrested in the northwestern city of Tabriz in September along with two Germans who were conducting an interview with her son.

The two Germans, who entered Iran on tourist visas, are accused of spying.

According to prosecutor general Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie, Houtan Kian's possible links with "anti-revolutionary groups based abroad" are being investigated.

Without naming him, Larijani also criticized Sakineh's first lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaie, for having "preferred to give interviews to foreigners" rather than defend his client.

Mostafaie gave a number of interviews with European media outlets after he fled Iran in July and sought refuge in Norway after Tehran issued an arrest warrant against him.

Rejecting the international outcry over the death sentence imposed on Mohammadi-Ashtiani, Larijani drew parallels between her case and that of Teresa Lewis, a 41-year-old American grandmother who was executed in the United States in late September for murder.

He said the two cases were "exactly the same" and that the West did not have the right to condemn the decision of Iran's judiciary.

— The Curator

SAVE This Woman, Please!

An urgent petition has been launched to save the life of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman sentenced to death by stoning, after reports that she was to be hanged for murder TODAY!

Mohammadi Ashtiani was convicted of the double charge of adultery and conspiring to kill her husband, and received 99 lashes. Her case provoked an international outcry when it first came to light earlier this year. Iran suspended her sentence to be stoned to death in September, but the country’s judiciary chief made it clear she could still face execution by hanging for an alleged role in the plot to kill her former husband.

In August, Iranian television aired an interview in which she admitted to a relationship with a man accused of murdering her husband, but rights groups have said the confession was coerced. Mohammadi Ashtiani is awaiting her fate in a prison in Tabriz, a city in north-west Iran. Her lawyer was arrested in October.

Even though the 43-year-old mother of two's sentence was suspended in the face of an international outcry the International Committee against Stoning said on its website that Mohammadi Ashtiani "is to be executed this Wednesday 3 November."

I, along with most other bloggers, have reported on this tragic case since it first came to the attention of the international community, adding my voice to thousands of others urging her to be spared.

A spokeswoman for the German-based organization said this morning that it now understood Mohammadi Ashtiani would not be executed today, but said Iran was still planning to go ahead with the execution, which could take place in the next few days.

"The International Committees against Stoning and Execution call on international bodies and the people of the world to come out in full force against the state-sponsored murder of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani," she said.

In addition, governments here and abroad also appealed to Iran to spare Mohammadi Ashtiani.

The global civic advocacy network Avaaz.org responded to the reports by launching an online petition urging people "to send an emergency message directly to the leaders of Turkey, Brazil and key UN nations who could sway Iran to halt the execution."

The goal is to reach 500,000 names. When I signed the petition, the total number of names was almost at 450,000. It's no wonder that "Ashtiani" has become one of the most widely discussed subjects on Twitter.

The boiler plate language of the petition follows, but anyone signing it can change the wording to reflect their own views:

“To leaders who can influence Iran:

I urge you to do all you can to save the life of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.

Reports state she could be executed on November 3rd. Your help could sway the government of Iran to halt her execution, just as it did this July and August.

Please take immediate action today to persuade Iran to spare her life.

Sincerely...”

In the U.S., Canada and in Great Britain leaders spoke out against the threatened execution.

The White House condemned the planned execution and called on Tehran to "provide Ms. Ashtiani with the due process and fair treatment she deserves."

In a separate statement, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Iran's leaders "have failed once again to protect the fundamental rights of their own citizens, particularly women."

"Ms. Ashtiani's case has not proceeded with the transparency and due process guaranteed under Iranian law, and we are concerned about reports of coerced confessions and other mistreatment," Secretary Clinton said.

British Foreign Office Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt echoed those views yesterday, saying "I am deeply disturbed by suggestions that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani could be executed imminently. Any move to execute her would be utterly unacceptable and would be condemned widely and in the strongest terms. The world watches and waits."

Minister Burt later spoke to the charge d'affaires at the Iranian embassy in London, who was unable to confirm or deny reports of Mohammadi Ashtiani's imminent execution. He told the diplomat that her death would be condemned throughout Europe.

A letter signed by 119 British MPs, calling on Iran to live up to its commitments as a signatory of the International Declaration of Human Rights, was delivered to the Iranian embassy in London.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague warned Iranian authorities against going ahead with the punishment, saying it would hurt Iran's international relations.

"This is a barbaric punishment and it will damage Iran in the eyes of the world. It will be much better not to proceed with it," Hague told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, during a visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

The EU high representative, Lady Ashton, was said to be "deeply concerned" about the reports. "She demands that Iran halts the execution and converts her sentence," a spokesman said.

The U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it had also been unable to confirm whether the reports of Mohammadi Ashtiani's imminent execution were true.

The Canadian government too was “deeply troubled” by these reports. Addressing Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad directly, Laureen Harper, the wife of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper wrote: "We urge you to take a progressive step towards improving the lives of Iranian women, mothers, daughters and sisters by unconditionally releasing Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani. Certainly, this would be welcomed by women around the world as seen as a deeply symbolic gesture toward the betterment of all Iranian women."

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon responded to the news in the House of Commons yesterday.

“Our government is deeply troubled by reports that Iran may be moving forward with its plans to execute this woman,” Cannon said. “The appalling treatment of her is completely out of line with international standards and the rule of law.”

Marina Nemat, an Iranian-Canadian author who was tortured in Iran and has campaigned with Indigo Books and Music CEO Heather Reisman to save Mohammadi Ashtiani, said the execution may or may not be imminent, as little is clear when dealing with Iran.

“I’m keeping my hopes up because the question is what the Iranian regime would gain from killing this woman,” Nemat said. “The world would be outraged.”

Canada has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Iran stemming from United Nations Security Council resolutions, and in July announced unilateral sanctions that, among other things, ban Canadian investment in Iranian oil and gas projects. Canada has also issued several statements condemning Iran, and for the last seven years presented an Iran resolution at the U.N. General Assembly that highlights the country’s record of human-rights failures.

Payam Akhavan, an Iranian-born international law professor at McGill University, said the stoning case reflects a broader conflict in Iran, as a hard-line regime under threat from a democracy movement tries to maintain its hold on power. He said Mohammadi Ashtiani is one of more than 30 women threatened by stoning in a country that now has the world’s highest per-capita rate of executions.

“This is part of the terrorization of the people,” Prof. Akhavan said. “When you start executing large numbers of people in heinous ways, you’re sending a message to the public at large.”

Prof. Akhavan said Canada should follow the lead of the United States, which in September issued an executive order against eight senior members of the Iranian regime, including the commander of the Revolutionary Guard, which allows the U.S. to seize their assets, block their travel to the U.S. and prevent Americans from doing business with them.

“The signal that it sends is that we’re not just issuing a U.N. resolution condemning the government,” Prof. Akhavan said. “We are blaming you, individually, and your name has now been carved in stone and one day when you’re not in power everyone will know who you are.”

As could be predicted, Tehran accused the West of trying to pressure it over the case, while a judiciary official said she was in "perfect health" and her case was still being reviewed.

"They (Western nations) have become so shameless that they have turned the case of Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, who has committed crime and treason, into a human rights case against our nation," foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.

"It has become a symbol of women's freedom in Western nations and with impudence they want to free her. Thus, they are trying to use this ordinary case as a pressure lever against our nation," the ISNA news agency quoted him as saying.

"The other side is only looking for pretexts against the Islamic establishment and if...we give into their demands they will assert, so there will be nothing left of the revolution and the establishment," state news agency IRNA quoted him as saying.

The sentence of death by stoning was suspended after it was condemned by the U.S., Britain and international human rights groups. The outgoing Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, an ally of Iran, offered asylum to Mohammadi Ashtiani but was rebuffed by the Tehran regime.

Human Rights Watch says Mohammadi Ashtiani was first convicted in May 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men following the death of her husband and was sentenced by a court to 99 lashes. She was later sentenced to death by stoning.

In August, Mohammadi Ashtiani was put on state-run TV where she "confessed" to adultery and involvement in the murder of her husband, but her lawyer, Houtan Kian, said she had been tortured beforehand.

At the end of August she was subjected to a mock execution, according to her 22-year-old son, Sajad Ghaderzadeh. The following month, she was allegedly given 99 lashes after a British newspaper ran a picture of an unveiled woman mistakenly identified as her, Kian said at the time.

Ghaderzadeh, who launched the international campaign to save his mother in June, was arrested in Iran last month with two German journalists who had interviewed him about his mother's case. The International Committee against Stoning is also demanding their release and that of Kian, who is also believed to have been detained.

This account remains shocking, and beyond tragic. I deeply respect Islamic law, but this decision appears to be purely a political reaction to the furor that the initial sentence caused.

When I began this blog, I created my alter ego, “The Curator,” who would lead readers through the amazing and varied world of sexual behavior and beliefs without judgment, with as much neutrality as possible.

Not this time.

I had done this because I felt there were too many loud opinions about anything and everything and not enough information conveyed in markedly egocentric blogs. I wanted readers to decide how they felt, working hard to make The Curator as unobtrusive as possible, even invisible rather than a part of the process.

Not this time.

Enough! Enough fear. Enough pain. Enough agony. Enough torture. Enough death. E-NOUGH misery imposed by cowardly dictators hiding behind the safety net of blind religious tradition and the faithful.

I am a tolerant person. I believe that all countries have the right of autonomy, that religion is personal and should be left to believers to choose or reject, and that WEST does not always equal BEST.

I am not a Christian; I am not a Jew; I am not a Muslim. I do not follow any of the Abrahamic faith paths. I am not speaking out as an American, or a proponent of any political ideology. I am speaking simply as a human being, reaching out to other human beings. I am literally on my knees. I beg Iran and all Iranians to spare this woman as was promised. Please. Please.

— The Curator

Are 'Marriage Wreckers' Coming to a Community Near You?

A murder case in Tokyo exposed Japan's custom of hiring marriage wreckers, agents who are paid to seduce one half of a couple and cause them to split.

Takashi Kuwabara was given a 17-year jail sentence earlier this year for murdering his lover, Rie Isohata, in 2009.

But the most extraordinary thing about the case was not the killing – by strangulation, after a bitter argument in April 2009 – but the circumstances in which the couple met.

Although Kuwabara inadvertently fell in love with Isohata, he had been paid to track her down and seduce her. He was a professional wakaresaseya, or "splitter-upper," hired by her then-husband to provide him with grounds for a divorce.

The case is raising questions about the ethics and legality of "splitter-uppers" – shady, but seemingly widespread operatives to whom a surprising number of Japanese turn.

Since then, there has been serious talk whether such a practice might be exported to the U.S. and U.K., where divorce is very big business.

Women in Japan initiate 75 percent of the country’s divorces. Although Japan’s divorce rate (27 percent) has doubled over the last decade, women who want to leave their marriage with more than bittersweet memories have to bring hard evidence of infidelity to court to avoid being awarded a skimpy alimony.

Enter the wakaresaseya. For a couple thousand dollars per week, one of these lovely seductresses will plot and initiate a carnal encounter with a client’s husband. Her goal? To approach the man in public and engage him in a flirt session that makes infidelity an appealing option. Then, if all goes well, the wakaresaseya will often have sex with the man to seal his fate as an adulterer.

And the Tokyo murder case proves it isn’t just women spearheading the infidelity entrapment business – as it made international headlines. As explained above, Kuwabara, a male seduction agent killed one of his targets, Isohata, who was a mother from Tokyo whom he’d developed feelings for, and begun a genuine relationship with. When she found out that he was a wakaresaseya and tried to end their relationship, he strangled her.

As Isohata’s father testified during the trial, "I can never forgive a business that toys with the emotions of human beings."

Wakaresaseya perform a variety of functions, but all of them arise from the Japanese dislike of direct confrontation.

Rather than pleading with him face to face, a woman whose husband is having an affair may hire a splitter-upper to seduce his mistress away from him.

Parents may engage their services to get rid of the unsuitable lover of a son or daughter.

Dozens of wakaresaseya companies advertise on the internet, under names such as Lady's Secret Service and Office Shadow.

They employ models, actors and personable people of different backgrounds first to trail and then to seduce their quarry.

Isohata's father told reporters, "For the rest of my life, I will never forgive the defendant, or my daughter's ex-husband who hired him, or the wakaresaseya business itself.

"This has devastated not just my daughter’s life, but those of my grandchildren and me."


— The Curator

Woman Publicly Executed for Adultery

Since I have been The Curator of this blog, I have presented reports from countries and regions around the world grappling with sexual behavior and attitudes within their own cultures.

I have tried very hard to remain neutral and non-judgmental, convinced that each country and region is truly autonomous, and that practices that make sense to us, would not translate well in another country with vastly different cultural beliefs, and vice versa.

I also believe without reservation that in presenting the full range of human behavior within its cultural climate will work toward tearing down barriers that divide us, that beneath our cultures, countries, and religions we are at our core all the same; sharing the same emotions that motivate and sustain us.

So it is that I must take a very deep breath to control my personal outrage, fury and disgust at a report coming out of Afghanistan. An alleged instance of adultery has led to the brutal flogging then deliberate murder of the “scorned” woman.

I cannot wrap my mind around anything that..well...barbaric. For anyone to be publicly executed by their “peers” after committing any alleged sexual behavior is completely indefensible. This the 21st Century, not the 16th Century where religious fundamentalism trumped basic humanity – not here in the U.S., or anywhere else on the planet either, dammit!

This is not an opinion I hold as a Christian, because I am not Christian. This is not a view I hold because of any religious view, or the rejection of any religious view. This is an opinion I hold as a human being. As a human being, I lend my voice of solidarity to all peoples of any religion, or who embrace no religion, who live in all countries, including our own; people who are simply trying to live the lives of their own choosing. It is time for us all to reject the politics of fundamentalism, to join hands across each and ever divide. May PEOPLE reign!

Below are the sad details, and an unhappy update on a report I presented earlier in this blog:

HERAT, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents publicly flogged and executed an Afghan woman for alleged adultery, a police official said Monday, in a reminder of the era when the militant Islamist group ruled Afghanistan.

A Taliban spokesman denied the group was behind the horrific incident.

The 48-year-old widow was tortured first by being given dozens of lashes before being shot dead Sunday in remote Qades, a district held by militants in northwestern Badghis province, said Abdul Jabar, a senior provincial officer.

"It happened before the public...despite that no one has complained, the government will take its own measures about the incident," Jabar told Reuters news agency by telephone from Badghis.

The unidentified man who had the alleged affair with the woman had escaped, he said.

The Taliban staged public stonings or lashings of Afghans found to have had sex outside marriage when in power from 1996 until 2001.

However Qari Mohammad Yousuf, the main Taliban media spokesman, said the group was not behind the Qades execution.

"This is a bad work and we reject it. Whoever has done is not a member of the Taliban and he is trying to defame us," Yousuf said by phone from an undisclosed location.

In similarly disturbing news:

[Above: Iranian lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei answers reporters' questions at a press conference in Oslo, Norway Sunday Aug. 8, 2010. Mostafaei has applied for political asylum in Norway after he was released from a detention center in Istanbul. Mostafaei fled Iran for Turkey after defending his client, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was convicted of cheating on her husband and sentenced to death by stoning in Iran. Tehran says it will not carry out the stoning against Ashtiani for the time being, but the mother of two could still face execution by hanging.]

OSLO, Norway — The lawyer defending a woman sentenced to death by stoning in Iran said on Sunday that he has applied for asylum in Norway, but hopes Iranian authorities will allow him eventually to return to his practice.

Mohammad Mostafaei told reporters he chose to flee to Norway after obtaining a one-year Norwegian travel visa. He also cited the Nordic country's prominent human rights profile.

The 31-year-old said he fled to Turkey last week after learning Iranian officials intended to arrest him. He flew to Norway Saturday after being detained briefly in Turkey over an undisclosed passport issue.

Mostafaei maintained a blog that sparked a worldwide campaign to free his client, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, who was convicted of adultery. In July, Iranian authorities said they would not carry out the stoning sentence for the time being, but the mother of two could still face execution by hanging for her conviction of adultery and other offenses.

[Above: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani.]

While Mostafaei is applying for asylum, it's unclear whether he will stay in Norway. He said he hopes international pressure will force Tehran to let him return to his practice.

"My greatest hope is that I can go back and continue my work in Iran. If the Iranian authorities will ensure my rights and safety, I'll go back," Mostafaei said through an interpreter. "Right now, I've lost the ability to work on the behalf of my clients. That means I've lost everything. Without that, it doesn't matter whether I'm in heaven or hell."

Late last month, Mostafaei — an outspoken lawyer who also has defended many juvenile offenders and political prisoners — was summoned for questioning by judicial officials at Tehran's Evin prison, released after several hours, then asked to return, which he failed to do. The same day, his wife, Fereshteh Halimi, and her brother, Farhad Halimi, were detained in a possible attempt to pressure Mostafaei to surrender if he wasn't already detained.

— The Curator

Her Crime: Adultery; Her Punishment: DEATH

They will wrap the bulk of her body in a white shroud; bind her arms and legs; bury her upright to her waist; then STONE her until she DIES as slowly and painfully as possible – after telling the swelling, eager crowd to select the rocks they will hurl with the utmost care, so that they will not kill her immediately.

Just where and in what barbaric era would this have happened? July 2010, Iran.

When I began this blog, I created my alter ego, “The Curator,” who would lead readers through the amazing and varied world of sexual behavior and beliefs without judgment, with as much neutrality as possible.

Not this time.

I had done this because I felt there were too many loud opinions about anything and everything and not enough information conveyed in markedly egocentric blogs. I wanted readers to decide how they felt, working hard to make The Curator as unobtrusive as possible, even invisible rather than a part of the process.

Not this time.

Here are the facts:

Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, a 43-year-old mother of two, was convicted on May 15, 2006 of having an "illicit relationship" with two men, according to Amnesty International and her lawyer.

She has now been sentenced to death by stoning.

Her lawyer, Mohommad Mostafaei, said Mohammadi-Ashtiani confessed to the crime after being subjected to 99 lashes. She later recanted that confession and has denied wrongdoing, he said.

Her conviction was based not on evidence but on the determination of three out of five judges, he added. She has asked forgiveness from the court but the judges refused to grant clemency. Iran's supreme court upheld the death conviction in 2007.

Apparently, Iran was reviewing that sentence of stoning, a rights official said, but her lawyer warned today that there was no guarantee the execution would be halted.

Mohammad Javad Larijani, Iran's top human rights official, said late Friday that the verdict of death by stoning against Mohammadi-Ashtiani is being reviewed by the judiciary.

"She was sentenced to 90 lashes by one court and stoning by another. The verdict is under revision," Larijani was quoted as saying by state news agency Islamic Republic News Agency.

He said the chief of Iran's judiciary, Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, was of the opinion that it was preferable to use another penalty instead of stoning, "and that is true for Ms. Mohammadi-Ashtiani."

Larijani did not say what penalty she could face instead, but added: "The penalty of stoning exists under the law but the judges rarely use it."

Mostafai told news agencies today that he had yet to receive any official confirmation that the stoning sentence had been revised.

"There is no guarantee that it will be halted," he said.

"Sentences such as stoning will be closely reviewed and probably changed," Larijani told Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency.

[Above: Protesters in London demonstrate against the planned stoning, and to mark the 11th Anniversary of the July 9th Iranian student uprising.]

In London today protesters waved flags and chanted anti-government slogans to the beat of a drum in front of the Iranian Embassy. They condemned executions in Iran – by stoning and hanging.

But Larijani said protests from outside Iran will not affect Mohammadi-Ashtiani's case.

"The Western attacks have no effect on the opinion of our judges," he told the news agency.

Larijani's comments seemed to contradict Iran's public statements made Thursday from its embassy in London that strongly suggested Mohammadi-Ashtiani would not be stoned.

The public statement said, "this mission denies the false news aired in this respect and...according to information from the relevant judicial authorities in Iran, she will not be executed by stoning punishment.

"It is notable that this kind of punishment has rarely been implemented in Iran and various means and remedies must be probed and exhausted to finally come up with such a punishment," the embassy statement concluded.

Mohammadi-Ashtiani's son, Sajjad Mohammedie Ashtiani, who appealed Wednesday to Iran's courts to spare his mother's life and also appealed to the world for help via Twitter, said he won't accept any decision short of his mother's freedom.

Through human rights activist Mina Ahadi, the son said he would be satisfied only when Iran's judiciary officially drops the charges against her.

Ahadi has said that only an international campaign designed to pressure the Islamic regime in Tehran could save Mohammadi-Ashtiani's life.

"Legally, it's all over," said Ahadi, who heads the International Committee Against Stoning and the Death Penalty, earlier this week.

Ashtiani's son wrote in an open letter to government officials that there was neither evidence nor legal grounds for his mother's conviction and sentence. He said the family has traveled six times from their home in Tabriz to Tehran to speak with Iranian officials, but in vain.

Amnesty said she received flogging of 99 lashes as per her sentence but was subsequently accused of "adultery while being married" in September 2006 during the trial of a man accused of murdering her husband.

Mostafai said his client knew the man who, "killed her husband and because she was at home when the murder took place, she was accused as accomplice."

She was pardoned on the murder charges, but then accused of adultery with that man, Mostafai said.

Mostafai added that such cases involving women in Iran arise due to difficulties in getting divorces with husbands despite, "having troubled marriages."

Enough! Enough fear. Enough pain. Enough agony. Enough torture. Enough death. E-NOUGH misery imposed by cowardly dictators hiding behind the safety net of blind religious tradition and the faithful.

I am a tolerant person. I believe that all countries have the right of autonomy, that religion is personal and should be left to believers to choose or reject, and that WEST does not always equal BEST.

I am not a Christian; I am not a Jew; I am not a Muslim. I do not follow any of the Abrahamic faith paths. I am not speaking out as an American, or a proponent of any political ideology. I am speaking simply as a human being, reaching out to other human beings. I am literally on my knees. I beg Iran and all Iranians to spare this woman, and to abolish this horrific practice. Please. Please.

— The Curator