stoning
Malaysia: Hudud Laws - Between the Implicit and the Explicit
The hudud controversy has now returned to the eyes of the media after it was discussed at the National Syariah Seminar sponsored by the Department of Islamic Affairs of Kelantan.
PAS indeed had taken a step forward in their comprehensive proposals for a welfare state but their preoccupation with the hudud issue clearly shows that they are still stuck in the framework of antiquarian politics.
For this evidently shows that the hudud laws are still a crucial part of their raison d'etre. It doesn't look likely that this will change, since evoking the hudud is a convenient way to claim that they are the real fighters for Islam in Malaysia, as opposed to Umno.
Iran: The life of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani remains in the balance
A year after public attention was cast upon Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s plight, her life appears to remain in the balance.
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old woman from Iran’s Azerbaijani minority, was sentenced in 2006 to be stoned to death for “adultery while married”. She was also sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for her role in her husband’s murder which, according to her lawyer, was reduced to five years’ imprisonment for complicity in the murder. She remains in prison in Tabriz. In a letter sent by the Iranian Embassy in Spain to Amnesty International Spain on 8 July 2011, the Iranian authorities reiterated that she was sentenced to death by stoning and to 10 years’ imprisonment for murder.
Iran: Executions by stoning
Death by stoning is the mandatory sentence for “adultery while married” in Iran. Even though a moratorium on such executions was announced in 2002, stonings continue.
In this document Amnesty International calls on the Iranian authorities to fully respect the moratorium, including by ensuring that all individuals sentenced to stoning will not face execution by other means.
A Plea to Western Media About "Sakineh", Political Prisoners, and Human Rights (Alinejad)
Sakineh Ashtiani is a 43-year-old Iranian woman who has been under threat of death by stoning since 2007 on charges adultery and complicity in murder. Over the last year, her cause has been taken up in the "West" by politicians, human rights activists, film stars, and musicians. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicholas Sarkozy have made statements demanding her release. The European Council passed a resolution condemning the stoning sentence. Ashtiani's face adorns the front pages of newspapers across Europe, who report every twist and turn of her case.
Iran: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani 'at home' pictures trigger confusion over her fate
Take Action:
- Iran: Update on her latest televised confession (Nov. 18)
- Iran: Another test of Iran`s Extremely Flawed Justice System (Nov. 12)
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Confusion surrounds the fate of , the woman whose sentence of death by stoning for adultery in triggered an international outcry.
Campaigners initially claimed victory last night after photographs from state-run Press TV showed her meeting her son, Sajad, at her home in Osku, north-west Iran, boosting hopes that she had been suddenly released. However, a preview of an interview with Mohammadi Ashtiani broadcast by the station late last night raised questions about whether she had actually been released from prison, or whether Iranian authorities had merely taken her to her home to collect evidence against her and film a confession.
Iran: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani 'freed'
Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani, 43, was pictured at her home in Osku, north-western , by the state-run Press TV channel.
The mother of two had been in prison since 2006 and was due to be executed for having an “illicit relationship outside marriage”.
Iran: Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani - Update on her latest televised confession
The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women (SKSW) and Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) are gravely concerned over the recent announcement made by the official Iranian television channel on alleged self-incriminating statements by Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani and several others on state TV last 15 November. We join the rest of the international community in denouncing this latest move by the Iranian authorities which adds more injustice to the case of Sakineh Mohammadi–Ashtiani.
Iran: Women's Rights Lawyer Shadi Sadr Legal Award + Speech
The Katharine & George Alexander brings recognition to lawyers who have used their legal careers to help alleviate injustice and inequity. The 2010 Award winner is Shadi Sadr, Iranian Human Rights and Women's Rights lawyer, and WLUML Council Member. The Committee selected Shadi Sadr because of her ceaseless dedication to championing the cause of Iranian women and risking her freedom to defend those who are wrongfully accused and imprisoned.
Below is the text of Sadr's acceptance speech at Santa Clara University in California.
IRAN: The Sakineh Mohammadi-Ashtiani case: another test of Iran's extremely flawed justice system
The Global Campaign to Stop Killing and Stoning Women (SKSW) and Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML) are deeply concerned over the continued denial of human rights in Iran in light of the Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani case. Lack of due process and the right to a fair trial, arbitrary detention, torture, and restrictions of freedom of information, of the press, and of association sadly constitute the status quo in the Islamic Republic.
Man Made Codifications of Hudud Law
Sisters in Islam acknowledges that the Qur’an has prescribed punishment for the crimes of theft (sariqah), robbery (hirabah), adultery (zina) and slanderous accusation of zina (qazaf). However, Hudud Allah in the Qur’an is a much broader concept, which is neither confined to punishments nor to a legal framework, but provides a comprehensive set of guidelines on moral, legal and religious themes. “The bounds or limits set by God” (2:229)which should not be transgressed, embody all that God orders or forbids, and are not limited to certain punishments as in the Hudud law. The Qur’an uses the term hudud in relation to fasting, inheritance and family laws, in addition to using the word in its general and wider meaning, which embodies all God’s teachings and laws. Unfortunately, provisions under fiqh (human juristic thought and interpretations) have reduced this broad comprehensive concept to mean quantified, mandatory and invariable punishment. Not only that, the Quranic prescription for four offences has been expanded to six in fiqh formulations (to include apostasy and drinking of intoxicants).