FORWARDED APPEAL(Iran): A mother of two charged with adultery faces being stoned to death, while her partner was stoned to death

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is forwarding to you an appeal issued by the ‘Stop Stoning Forever Campaign’ regarding the death sentence by stoning of Ms. Mokarrameh Ebrahimi (43), a mother of two children, who has been charged with adultery. Her partner Mr. Ja’far Kiani was already stoned to death on 5 July 2007 and the human rights groups worry that Ms. Mokarrameh Ebrahimi may be executed soon. The couple, together with their two children, has been detained in prison for over 11 years on the charge of adultery on the petty reason that they did not officially register their marriage. Unlike other countries, Iran imposes the excessive punishment up to death sentence for the charge of adultery.

The AHRC calls for your strong and urgent intervention into this serious case. Please immediately write to the Government of Iran to save Ms. Mokarrameh Ebrahimi’s life. Please also express your special attention for the children. Adequate assistance should also be given to the children by the Government of Iran as well as the concerned human rights groups to rehabilitate them.

For more information about this case, please also refer to the public statement issued by the Amnesty International.

For any further inquires, please contact the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign (www.stopstoning.org). The contact details of this organization are also provided below.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
———————————————————

Stop Stoning Forever Campaign – www.stopstoning.org Urgent Press Release No. 86-4-a

Jafar Kiani Stoned on July 5,
Mokarrameh Ebrahimi in Eminent Danger

Jafar Kiani was stoned in Aghche-kand, a small village near Takistan, Ghazvin, on Thursday July 5th. His partner, Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, could have a similar fate if we do not act now!

Mr. Jafar Kiani and his partner, Ms. Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, have been in prison for more than 11 years for an adulterous relationship and having two children. The couple’s children live in prison with their mother. The Stop Stoning Forever Campaign broke the news of their case on June 19 as they were scheduled to be stoned together on Thursday, June 21, 2007. After the news was spread, the Iranian judiciary officials were faced with a strong wave of national and international opposition and announced that the order of stoning would be stayed.

The people of Takestan and their parliamentary representative, Rajab Rahmani, were opposed to the execution of the sentence in Takistan which led to its carrying out in Aghche-kand.

The judge who issued the stoning sentence, Mr. Eslahi, believed that the couple’s marriage had not been legitimate based on his own “knowledge” of the case. The stoning sentences were similarly issued.

According to the Iranian law, the judge who has issued the sentence would have to be present in person to throw the first stone. Some unofficial sources have reported that only a few of the villagers participated in the stoning and the sentence was mostly carried out by the officials and the related service men.

The judiciary officials have so far neither confirmed nor denied the stoning of Jafar Kiani. Silence seems to be the current policy of some judiciary officials, including Hassan Ghasemi, the Head of Judiciary Office in Ghazvin, who has told the Stop Stoning Forever Campaign activists to contact Alireza Jamshidi, the official Iranian judiciary spokesman, for answers to their questions.

The Stop Stoning Forever Campaign is asking all citizens of the world to raise their opposition to stoning and try to save the life of Mokarrameh Ebrahimi from stoning. Please contact the Iranian officials in Tehran and Takistan, Gahzvin and/or Iranian embassy in other countries (please see the contact information below).

Further detailed information will be provided as campaign activists are trying to obtain it. To contact campaign activists in the US or Iran please email Soheila Vahdati < soheilavahdati@gmail.com> or Shadi Sadr <shadisadr@gmail.com>.

Please note that possible corrections to the offices’ phone numbers in Iran will be posted on the campaign website: www.stopstoning.org.

Please send appeals in Persian, Arabic, English, French or your own language, urging the authorities to halt the execution by stoning of Mokarrameh Ebrahimi immediately, the death sentence against Mokarrameh Ebrahimi to be commuted, immediate inform whether Mr.Ja’far Kiani was stoned to death on 5 July and, if so, whether this was in breach of the stay of execution that had been imposed by the Head of the Judiciary.
Please show your unconditional opposition to the death penalty, as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and violation of the right to life through your letter.

Also demand the abolition in law of execution by stoning in Iran immediately.

Please send to following:

Takistan Judiciary Office – Tel:  +98 282 36816

Ghazvin Judiciary Office – This office is open from 7:15 am to 2:15 pm Tehran time. Tel: +98 281 2229864-5

You can also contact the following offices in Iran:

• The Supreme Leader: Ayatollah Khamenei
Tel: +98 21 64412020

• The Head of Judiciary: Ayatollah Shahroudi
Tel: +98 21 22741002-5

• The President: Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Tel: +98 21 88825071 & +98 21 88825072-5

If you have difficulty contacting the officials inside Iran, please contact the Iranian officials in your country of residence for some of whom the telephone and fax numbers are listed below.

• United States: Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Washington, D.C.
Tel: +1 202 965-4990-9
Fax: +1 202 965-1073 & 202 965-4990

• Canada: Embassy of Iran in Ottawa
Tel:  +1 613 2354726 & 613 2325712

• United Kingdom: Embassy of Iran in London
Tel: +44 2072253000
Fax: +44 2075894440

• Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in Switzerland, Geneva
Tel: +41 22 332 21 00
Fax: +41 22 733 02 03

• United Arab Emirates: Embassy of Iran in Abu Dhabi
Tel: +9712-4447618
Fax: +9712-4448714

• Denmark: Embassy of Iran in Copenhagen
Tel: +45 39160003
Fax: +45 39160075

• Norway: Embassy of Iran in Oslo
Tel: +47 23 27 29 60
Fax: +47 22 55 49 19

• Russia: Embassy of Iran in Moscow
Tel: +7 9178655, 9179679, 9175219, 9177282, 9170039, 9172442, 9178959
Fax: +7 2302897, 9179683

• Finland, Embassy of Iran
Tel: +358-9-6869 240
Fax: +358-9-6869 2410

• South Africa, Embassy of Iran
Tel: +27 (012) 342 58 80
Fax: +27 (012) 342 18 78

• Germany, Embassy of Iran in Frankfurt
Tel: +49 (0) 69 56 000 739 ­ 740
Fax: +49 (0) 69 56 000 728

• India, Embassy of Iran in New Delhi
Tel: +91-11-23329600/ 01/ 02
Fax: +91-11-23325493

——————————

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER

SAMPLE LETTER


Document Type : Forwarded Urgent Appeal
Document ID : FA-005-2007
Countries :
Issues : Death penalty,