Stoning in Iran - Essay Example

?STONING IN IRAN The present paper aims to examine and analyse the human rights situation in Islamic Republic of Iran, with special reference to the implementation of capital punishment through stoning prevailing in the country by the law enforcing agencies of the state on the offenders and criminals in order to discourage criminal activities in the country. Since the Iranian government claims to be the torch-bearer of the protection of human rights, it vehemently condemns the violation of such rights at the hands of the USA, UK, Israel and India. Iran claims the violation of basic rights in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Kashmir by the cruel military forces of these non-Muslim states of the world. However, she completely neglects the very reality that she is also guilty of human rights violations by imposing and inflicting the horrible and humiliating punishments upon the sex offenders in the form of stoning them to death because of developing extra-marital sexual relationships with one or more person(s). Since stoning to death maintains neither any religious background nor is it observed in any other part of the world except Iran, the dreadful act of stoning witnesses no justification in its nature and scope. The present study aims to analyse the implementation of the punishment by exploring its validity through the Islamic jurisprudence on the one hand, and its cultural and revengeful historical background on the other in order to prove or disapprove the validity of the so called justifiable penalty observed by the Iranian government of contemporary times. Stoning is one of the most popular traditional punishments applied by the authorities on the sex offenders and adulterers, so that the viewers and spectators can take it as an exemplar and could avoid sex offences altogether in their individual and collective life. Since the Iranians consider stoning a highly effective method to prevent the masses from violation of the moral ethics and religious values, in order to protect the nation from becoming prey to the moral decline at large, stoning is vehemently practiced in all parts of the state on offenders without any discrimination of caste, class, community, region, age and sex. “At a time when momentum is gathering across the world to abolish capital punishment, the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) currently ranks second for number of executions, after China, and first for per capita executions in the world. According to the World Coalition against the Death Penalty, Iran executed at least 317 people in 2007, almost twice as many as in 2006 and four times as many as in 2005. In 2008, at least 346 executions were recorded.” (FIDH, 2009: 3) Hence, this type of ruthless punishment is admired, projected and supported by the Iranians without taking into considerations the severity of the trial the offenders undergo by becoming prey to the slow and painful death penalty. The history of stoning in Iran is not far to seek; on the contrary, it finds its roots over three decades ago, when the religious leadership came at the helm of the government after the successful revolution against the pro-western monarchical regime of the Emperor Raza Shah Pahlavi in February 1979. “Amnesty International says that at least eight people were stoned to death in 1986. Somehow, few people have linked this to the passing of a law that year which allowed the hiring of judges with minimal experience and that it led to an increase in the number of judges from a traditional religious background.” (Wooldridge, 2010: quoted in bbc.co.uk) Though the revolution was the reaction to the prevailing class discrimination of the monarchical Iran, yet it was hijacked by the religious leaders, who introduced strict laws in the name of religion and inflicted severe and harsh punishments upon their political and social opponents. Stoning and floggings were also introduced in the country, and the sex offenders became the worst prey of the religious regime, which left no stone unturned to suppress the liberal masses under the chariot wheels of fundamental religious system, which had neither any link with the Islamic traditions, nor it sought any inspiration from the Roman law. At the eve of the Revolution, “Ayatollah Khomeini promised that all Iranians would be free. However, the past 30 years have been characterised by persistent human rights violations. The multitude of especially severe violations that marked the early years of the Islamic Republic declined over time, but today the human rights situation still remains grim. Hopes for a sustained improvement rose during the period of reform under President Khatami (1997 to 2005), which saw some easing of restrictions on freedom of expression, but have been firmly dashed since the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005.” (Amnesty International, Feb 2009: bbc.co.uk) Thus, Iranian subjects have been the victim of human rights violation from 32 long years under the religious regime of contemporary era. It is therefore the people at global level protest against such cruelties in the name of law, justice and peace in the same manner as people, all over the world, have protested against the heinous crimes committed by the Americans in Iraq. Thus, making one’s death a dreadful and torturous experience is really painful and startling. Being the torch-bearer of Islamic religious system, Iran takes stoning as a highly justifiable act, which is helpful in decreasing the statistics related to sex offences in the country. Thus, the Iranian officials vehemently support it by declaring it the imperative impediment on the way to popularising adultery. “Stoning means you should do a number of acts, by throwing the stone in a limited number, in a special way.…In the eyes of some people, stoning is a lesser punishment than execution because there is a chance you should survive," Larijani said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published Friday.” (ABC News Radio, 2010) By inflicting this heinous cruelty in the holy name of Islam, the Iranian authorities ignore the very reality that this type of punishment does not have any place in Islam. On the contrary, stoning seeks its roots in ancient pagan cultures, which used to inflict harshest penalties upon the opponents and rivals out of the obnoxious fire of personal grudge and malice for them. Nevertheless, the Iranians and even Afghans stick to their obstinate claim of affiliating the punishment with the Islamic jurisprudence. However, human rights activists censure such type of punishment by declaring it vehemently against the fundamental human rights of the individuals. They consider stoning as cruel and humiliating, as it paves the way towards the hurting and insulting of the sex offenders. “Stoning has been condemned by several human rights organizations. Some groups, such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, oppose all capital punishment, including stoning. Other groups, such as RAWA Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan, oppose stoning per se as an especially cruel practice.” (Retrieved from museumstuff.com) Stoning seeks its roots in ancient times observed in the Greek and Roman societies of ancient era, where capital punishment was in vogue for the eradication of crimes. Being the most advanced societies of ancient era, the Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures articulated statutes of law and adopted the measures as well in order to provide their citizens with mental relief and physical protection from the offenders. “Early Roman law derived from custom and statutes, but the emperor asserted his authority as the ultimate source of law. His edicts, judgments, administrative instructions, and responses to petitions were all collected with the comments of legal scholars.” Consequently, the criminals were either crucified, or set to fire or were stoned to death for the crime they had committed against the state and society or both. Like various cultures and civilisations, religious beliefs also added their share in the regulations of social, political, cultural and economic activities of the people by providing code of life. Abrahamic religions have also introduced various penalties on the basis of the nature and intensity of the offence committed. Hence, punishments are directly dependent of the crime according to the Abrahamic religious beliefs, which has clearly been defined in the Scriptures and traditions. Thus, fines, floggings, physical punishments, exile and capital punishments have been the part of these penal codes applied and imposed by these religions. Chapters 18 to 25 of the Leviticus (Old Testament) manifestly describe the details of disobediences, offences and malpractices, and suggest punishments for the crimes. As it has been described in the Torah in these words: “Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.” (Leviticus, 20: 2-3) Similarly, the Holy Bible also recommends stoning till death for the adulterers and false blamers according to the Christian Law, which has been clearly expressed in Deuteronomy (22:13-29), John (8: 1-11) and other places, as it is the only way to condemn, censure and eradicate fornication from the face of society. The Bible also provokes the Christians to kill the worshipper of idols and false gods through stoning. “You shall kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. You shall stone him to death with stones.” (Deuteronomy 13:6-11) Unlike its predecessor Abrahamic religious beliefs, Islam does not recommend stoning to the adulterers provided their guilt is proved. Somehow, it allows floggings to be applied on the criminals just to teach them the inferiority and lowliness of adultery. Being a comprehensive religious faith Islam offers complete code of life to its followers through its universal message of truthfulness and peace, adopting of which brings comforts in life. Islam also commands the people to obey their Creator and the noble teachings of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), and lays stress upon worshipping One God and strict preservation of one’s chastity. Hence, Islam confines sexual activities to the life partner of opposite gender, and any other relationship is absolutely forbidden and prohibited. Thus, same sex relations, extra marital union as well as forced sex including rape and child abuses are the acts that come under the definition of sins; consequently, the persons responsible for such nefarious acts are tried in the court of law, and if sufficient evidence is available in committing of any of these sins, the offender is flogged or punished through other penalties by the personnel belonging to law enforcing agencies. Somehow, the government of Iran has introduced stoning on the criminals after the famous Iranian Revolution of 1979. “Article 6 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Iran has ratified, states: "Sentence of death may be imposed only for the most serious crimes in accordance with the law in force at the time of the commission of the crime." Offenses for which the Law of Hodoud provides the death penalty do not involve murder or serious bodily harm, constituting the most serious crimes.” (dhushara.com) Thus, in Iran, any married person, either man or woman, who has reached the age of majority and has sound mental condition, wilfully gets involved into any type of sexual activity with someone other than his/her life partner, is offender of committing adultery, and is liable to be stoned to death. Similarly, unmarried sex offender is flogged eighty times at the back. “The condemned are wrapped head to foot in white shrouds and buried up to their waists. Then the stoning begins. The stones are specifically chosen so they are large enough to cause pain, but not so large as to kill the condemned immediately. They are guaranteed a slow, torturous death. Sometimes their children are forced to watch. Their offense is usually adultery.” (The Washington Times, 2010) The stoning is not an unusual thing in Iran; nor is it taken by the people as a surprise. On the country, the same act is frequently exercised on the offenders in the country at the public place, so that maximum number of people could watch the exercising of the same practice on the sex offenders. “The Special Representative notes that article 82 (b) of the Islamic Criminal Code provides that adultery by a married woman shall be punished by stoning to death. Information reaching the Special Representative suggests that stoning has been occurring from time to time since 1979.” (Iran-e-azad.org) Somehow, the human rights activists stand against such type of punishments, and state that since there are fifty two Muslim states in the world, why only one state of Iran observes these penalties in the country. Since an overwhelming majority of the Muslim governments and subjects have adopted the western and Roman penal codes, and have put the Islamic laws aside, so why Iran is solely imposing stoning on the adults. Another plea taken by the human rights activists is this that since Islam vehemently advocates human rights and opposes the violation of the basic human rights by defaming, hurting and harming the fellow beings, so such kind of cruelty and ruthlessness should not be practiced in the sacred name of Islam. It is therefore all human rights organisations stand against such painful sentence upon the sex offenders. “The Special Representative is deeply concerned at the continuing reports of the use of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the Islamic Republic of Iran, conduct banned by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (article 5), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ( article 7), and the Convention against torture ands other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment ( article 16).” (iran-e-azad.org) The Islamic jurists are of the opinions that since the conditions to prove adultery are so strict and harsh that it is almost impossible to prove the same. Thus, according to Sharia law, declaring an accused as the adulterer requires the clear evidence from four pious and major persons containing sufficient mental health and sound intelligence, who have found the adulterer(s) clearly committing the sin. The religious people submit to state that it is not possible to commit sexual act, either by consent or by force, in the presence of four pious and wise persons. Hence, since proving of adultery is really hard nut to crack, how can such a penalty be inflicted upon the individuals without the presence of four chaste and wise adult people. One more reason behind opposing the internal law of Iran is political rivalry of the country with the USA and her allies. Actually, the leading human rights agencies and their activists belong to the American and European countries, which have permitted same sex activities including gay marriages, bars and extra marital sexual union of every type, and do not observe Jewish and Christian teachings; they also seek adopting of the same in Iran. Thus, human rights organisations look for the adopting of lenient policies towards adulterers so that they can exercise the sexual activities of their own choice by completely neglecting the commands of the Creator. “In the 19th century, many Muslim countries came under the control or influence of Western colonial powers. As a result, Western-style laws, courts, and punishments began to appear within the Sharia.” (religioustolerance.org) Consequently, several countries significantly abandoned the religious code, and eventually made western penal code as their supreme law. However, few Muslim countries still follow both Sharia and western laws, though both these codes are quite opposite to each other. It is fact beyond suspicion that rape, adultery, fornication, child abuse and bestiality are highly heinous offences that may challenge the very moral and social values of the country. But it does not mean that people should be humiliated and hurt in such a painful manner that their death becomes nightmare for others. Human rights organisations have launched several schemes, raised slogans, organised demonstrations and recorded protests at massive scale in order to nullify human rights violation from the country. Whenever a possible stoning case appears through the Iranian press or through any other source, the HR organisations plan schemes of turning down the harsh penalty through protests and condemnation. The human rights organisations also highlight the contradiction in the law, which seeks no roots in the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith (i.e. noble sayings of the Holy Prophet) as well. So, when a law has neither roots in Islamic jurisprudence, nor do these are practiced in any other part of the globe, so why should it be taken as the supreme law of such a country, which claims to be the follower of the true teachings of Islam. Hence, the best way to protect the Iranian subjects from becoming victim of these crimes includes the spread of awareness in the people, so that they can ponder on the exact state of affairs, and can provide true judgment to the nature, need, scope and significance of the penalty under discussion. Moreover, global civil society (GCS) is also playing its formidable role in respect of protecting the human rights all over the globe. “It is important for governments in particular to recognise the civil society as such, and equally, that civil society should begin to recognise that in any conflict situation they are a force to reckon with. The freedom of action of civil society organisations must be respected by governments. Policies that restrict their activities must be avoided; instead, those that strengthen the range of institutions of civil society, especially in Low-Income Countries under Stress.” (Omana, 2006, p. 3) To conclude, it becomes evident that stoning the offenders to death is a tortuous and painful act that makes the death process startling and woeful. It is fact that the offenders must be taken into account and must be punished in order to discourage criminal activities from the society. However, it does not mean that one should be dealt with in such a horrible way that he starts cursing the day when he had arrived in this world on meeting with such a dreadful fate on committing crime. In addition, the countries including Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, where even meeting with the members of opposite gender is not allowed, the individuals look for unnatural ways to fulfil their needs and desires. Saudi Arabia is most intolerant and cruel in this regards, where the police starts beating and dishonouring the couples on finding them sitting and chatting together. It is therefore, gay relations and same sex activities have got extreme popularity in the entire Gulf region, where becoming gay is far easier than becoming straight. “Notorious for its adherence to Wahhabism, a puritanical strain of Islam, and as the birthplace of most of the 9/11 hijackers, Saudi Arabia is the only Arab country that claims sharia, or Islamic law, as its sole legal code. The list of prohibitions is long: It’s haram—forbidden—to smoke, drink, go to discos, or mix with an unrelated person of the opposite gender.” (Labi, 2007) The entire state of affairs is discouraging for the straight and natural relations with the opposite gender, and is projecting unnatural offences including buggery, child rape and others. The human rights forums must convey their message, through the latest platforms of media and advance technological equipments that if a state stick to imposing undue restrictions on natural ways of expressing love and affection, the unnatural activities are sure to make their headway eventually. Hence, the offenders must be granted the chances of addressing their manners. Though rapists and child molesters are the worst stratum of society and could be dealt with an iron hand, yet the sex offenders getting involved into extra marital activities with mutual consent must not be sentenced in such a harsh way that the people begin abhorring the law and judicial system altogether. Additionally, the world should not leave the Iranian masses in the lurch by boycotting trade and commerce relations, which has been dismissed by several states at the call of the USA. The US authorities are deteriorating the fate of poor Iranian masses on the basis of their political rivalries with Iran. Hence, the world’s dismissing of diplomatic ties with the country will let the Iranian authorities to carry on their cruel designs of dictatorship through the implementation of inhuman penalties in the form of stoning in the holy name of religion. REFERENCES: Labi, Nadya. The Kingdom in the Closet The Atlantic Magazine May 2007 Quoted in http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2007/05/the-kingdom-in-the-closet/5774/ Omana, Dr. Julius. 2006 Civil Society in a Conflict Environment: A Case of Gulu District in Northern Uganda and Policy Implications for Social Service Delivery 2006 (Retrieved from http://www.gdrc.org/ngo/civilsociety-uganda.pdf) Amnesty International Human rights violations persist in Iran 30 years after Islamic revolution February 2009. Quoted in http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/feature-stories/human-rights-violations-persist-iran-30-years-islamic-revolution-20090209 Wooldridge, Mike. Iran's Grim History of Death by Stoning BBC News (2010, July 9) Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10579121 Ancient Roman Law. Quoted in http://www.crystalinks.com/romelaw.html Death Penalty When Life Generates Death (Legally) Ancient Egyptians. Retrieved from http://library.thinkquest.org/23685/data/ancegypt.html Iran Human Rights Official Draws Fire for Defense of Stoning ABC Radio News retrieved from http://abcnewsradioonline.com/world-news/2010/11/19/iran-human-rights-official-draws-fire-for-defense-of-stoning.html King James Version: Leviticus Chapter 20 http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/kjv/lev020.htm Deuteronomy 13:6-11 Stoning in the Bible Quoted in http://www.mutazilah.org/stoning.htm The Washington Times Stoning to Death in Iran: A Crime against Humanity Carried Out By the Mullahs’ Regime http://www.iran-e-azad.org/stoning/ Stoning: Views Retrieved from http://www.museumstuff.com/learn/topics/Stoning::sub::Views Punishment for Non-Marital Sex in Islam: Sharia law as applied in some Muslim countries Quoted in http://www.religioustolerance.org/isl_adul2.htm Stoning Women to Death in Iran and Afghanistan Retrieved from http://www.dhushara.com/book/sakina/stoningetc/stoning.htm Stoning to Death in Iran: A Crime against Humanity Carried Out By the Mullahs' Regime Retrieved from http://www.iran-e-azad.org/stoning/un.html Read More