end barbarous stonings
Jul. 16th, 2010 04:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miriam_eThis came in from AVAAZ.org
Wow - 400,000 signers in a few days - and Sakineh's children just told us today they feel this effort might keep her alive! Let's get to 1 million against stoning in Iran - sign the petition!
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Dear Friends,
Last week, an Iranian woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, was saved by global protests from being stoned to death.
But she may still be hanged -- and, meanwhile, execution by stoning continues. Right now fifteen more people are on death row awaiting stoning in which victims are buried up to their necks in the ground and then large rocks are thrown at their heads.
The partial reprieve of Sakineh, triggered by the call from her children for international pressure to save her life, has shown that if enough of us come together and voice our horror, we may be able to save her life, and stop stoning once and for all. Sign the urgent petition now and send it on to everyone you know -- let's end this cruel slaughter NOW!
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_stoning/?vl
Sakineh was convicted of adultery, like all the other 12 women and one of the men awaiting stoning. But her children and lawyer say she is innocent and that she did not get a fair trial -- they state her confession was forced from her and, speaking only Azerbaijani, she did not understand what was being asked of her in court.
Despite Iran's signing of a UN convention that requires the death penalty only be used for the "most serious crimes" and despite the Iranian Parliament passing a law banning stoning last year, stoning for adultery continues.
Sakineh's lawyer says the Iranian government "is afraid of Iranian public reaction and international attention" to the stoning cases. And after Turkey and Britain's Foreign Ministers spoke out against Sakineh's sentence, it was suspended.
Sakineh's brave children are leading the international campaign to save their mother and stop stoning. Massive international condemnation now could finally stop this sickening punishment. Let's join together today across the world to end this brutality. Sign the petition to save Sakineh and end stoning here:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_stoning/?vl
In hope and determination,
Alice, David, Milena, Ben and the whole Avaaz team
SOURCES:
Iranians still facing death by stoning despite 'reprieve', The Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/08/iran-death-stoning-adultery
Britain condemns planned Iran stoning as 'medieval', AFP:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hjVdkvkzicGeInqw2R10rCKrqs3A
 An Iranian woman in Brussels protesting the inhumane practice of death by stoning. Photograph: Thierry Roge/Reuters |
---
Dear Friends,
Last week, an Iranian woman, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, was saved by global protests from being stoned to death.
But she may still be hanged -- and, meanwhile, execution by stoning continues. Right now fifteen more people are on death row awaiting stoning in which victims are buried up to their necks in the ground and then large rocks are thrown at their heads.
The partial reprieve of Sakineh, triggered by the call from her children for international pressure to save her life, has shown that if enough of us come together and voice our horror, we may be able to save her life, and stop stoning once and for all. Sign the urgent petition now and send it on to everyone you know -- let's end this cruel slaughter NOW!
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_stoning/?vl
Sakineh was convicted of adultery, like all the other 12 women and one of the men awaiting stoning. But her children and lawyer say she is innocent and that she did not get a fair trial -- they state her confession was forced from her and, speaking only Azerbaijani, she did not understand what was being asked of her in court.
Despite Iran's signing of a UN convention that requires the death penalty only be used for the "most serious crimes" and despite the Iranian Parliament passing a law banning stoning last year, stoning for adultery continues.
Sakineh's lawyer says the Iranian government "is afraid of Iranian public reaction and international attention" to the stoning cases. And after Turkey and Britain's Foreign Ministers spoke out against Sakineh's sentence, it was suspended.
Sakineh's brave children are leading the international campaign to save their mother and stop stoning. Massive international condemnation now could finally stop this sickening punishment. Let's join together today across the world to end this brutality. Sign the petition to save Sakineh and end stoning here:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_stoning/?vl
In hope and determination,
Alice, David, Milena, Ben and the whole Avaaz team
SOURCES:
Iranians still facing death by stoning despite 'reprieve', The Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/08/iran-death-stoning-adultery
Britain condemns planned Iran stoning as 'medieval', AFP:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hjVdkvkzicGeInqw2R10rCKrqs3A
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 07:15 am (UTC)I don't understand Iran.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-16 08:14 am (UTC)Weird thing about Iran is that they used to be pretty "civilised", but after the religious nutters took over it degenerated into the standard cruelty that all religions seem to push. I've met some people who escaped from Iran when it turned to religion and they are intelligent, cultured, and moderate in their outlook.
We should treat Iran as a lesson to us all. They are us, seen through a mirror distorted by religious bigotry. We could easily become them. I know it seems impossible, but prior to the takeover by the mullahs it would have seemed impossible there too. Likewise Germany was at the pinnacle of social development just prior to the Nazis gaining power. Cambodia was becoming a really good place to live and work before the war-criminals Nixon and Kissinger bombed it, producing the moral panic that culminated in mass murder.
The Iranians, Germans, Cambodians, Japanese, Spanish Inquisition... they are us.
We need to protect against moral panic and intolerance getting a foothold here because all it takes is a trigger for the avalanche to begin. Once it starts it could take decades to reverse, and the damage will stay with us forever. This is why I speak out against all these things... trial by media, reducing gays to second-class citizens, criminalising sharing, casual bugging, the internet filter, victimising asylum-seekers, hysteria about pornography and violent games, slandering the unemployed, reducing workers' choices, and so on.
Sadly, those forces that would plunge us backwards into a fear-based society are always pushing. They never stop. We need to always push against them because the minute we stop, they are only too happy to take over and ruin the society for everyone.
Religion, racism, nationalism, greed, power-hunger, and snobbery are some of the worst offenders. Unfortunately many of these were elevated to the status of national goals under Howard and we came incredibly close to great danger while that nasty mental midget controlled things. But we are not out of the woods yet. I'm constantly being astounded by the intolerant propaganda from the mainstream media, and how effective it is at bending people's minds.
Thank heavens for the net.