THE GUARDIAN: Iran was urged today to abolish immediately executions by stoning, described by Amnesty International as a "grotesque and horrific" form of punishment.
The head of Iran's judiciary imposed a moratorium on such executions in 2002, but two people were stoned to death in 2006 and one last year, Amnesty said. Nine women and two men are currently under sentence of death by stoning.
Amnesty said in a new report that article 204 of Iran's penal code "dictates that the stones are large enough to cause pain, but not so large as to kill the victim immediately."
The rules prescribe that men should be buried up to their waists and women up to their breasts for the purposes of death by stoning. Victims typically take 20 minutes to die.
Last week the Iranian human rights group led by Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ibadi protested against the amputation of hands and feet for offences against public security. The UN and other bodies have often protested against torture and flogging in Iran.
Iran has one of the highest rates of execution in the world. In 2006, 177 people were put to death, mostly by hanging. That number was expected to be exceeded in 2007, with 124 people executed in the first seven months of the year. Amnesty demands Iran ends 'grotesque' stoning executions >>> By Ian Black, Middle East editor
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