Archives

Adios World Cup; there’s a new way to be a world citizen

Posted in Irshaddering Thoughts on Jul 12, 2010

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani has became the symbol of a hideous practice that the Iranian government inflicts on its people: death by stoning.

In a 21st-century version of burning heretics at the stake, stoning victims are draped in pristine white sheets, lowered into freshly dug dirt pits and attacked with fist-sized rocks. The rocks are hurled hard enough to cause pain, but not hard enough to kill quickly. As Amnesty International puts it, stoning is “specifically designed to increase the suffering of its victims.”

A group of entrepreneurs, authors and artists have come together to win the fight against death by stoning. We’ve launched a website — freesakineh.org — that allows citizens of every country to send a crystal-clear message to Iranian authorities: “We’re watching and we won’t let you off the hook.”

Already, Iran’s regime has reacted to the worldwide citizens’ campaign by promising that Ms. Ashtiani will not be stoned. However, she remains subject to execution. The regime hasn’t yet clarified by what means.

None of us should take comfort from this response. Fact is, Iran’s regime lies about stoning. At the World Economic Forum in 2005, I publicly confronted Iranian vice-president Masoumeh Ebtekar about it. She assured me that Iran had proclaimed a “moratorium” on the hideous practice.

Yet since then, human rights watchdogs have documented it at least six times. On top that, Iranian anti-stoning activists have had to intervene and rescue several more targets. Today, 12 women and one man face death by stoning in Iran.

Stoning cases themselves tend to be built on a pile of indignities. Consider the allegation against Ms. Ashtiani: adultery. The charge is manifestly trumped up and the investigation has been stacked from the get-go — so much so that a loophole had to be invoked to convict her. That loophole lets judges claim special “knowledge” for which there’s no evidence. How convenient.

In any event, Ms. Ashtiani had already submitted herself to lashings — 99 of them. Why, then, the indescribably gratuitous threat to pulverize the life out of her too? Why any kind of execution for her? And even if her life is spared because of the international spotlight, what will happen to the other women and men who still face the stoning sentence?

This fight isn’t over as long as you sign the petition at freesakineh.org.

How could your signature help eradicate stoning? For starters, the petition is being sent not just to Iranian officials, but also to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The UN is Iran’s cherished playground. Shaming the regime there could go far to tipping the scales.

Some will scoff that Sharia (Islamic) law won’t be influenced by secular cries for human rights. But Iran subscribes to Shia Islam, which was born of dissent. As minorities in a Sunni-dominated Muslim world, shia clerics and thinkers don’t always reject the idea that human interpretations of divine will are exactly that — human. If exposed by more international outrage, Iranian arbiters could use Shia tradition to ban stoning altogether.

Others might argue that Western involvement will be spun as interference, complicating the work of campaigners on the ground in Iran. It’s true that  outcries from the outside sometimes hurt causes. But in Iran, activists say that global pressure works. Indeed, the Iranian human-rights icon and Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi has urged us “to make as much noise as possible.”

Clearly, worldwide concern about Sakineh Ashtiani has made a difference. Remarkably, Iran’s regime felt the need to react. Still, let’s not be duped by the Kafka-esque content of its reaction. A public-relations victory for the regime isn’t our goal. Sustained respect for human dignity is.

That’s the simple message of your signature to help save Sakineh. After signing, please circulate the link far and wide. We’re now translating the site into multiple languages, so don’t hesitate to get friends and family involved, wherever they live.