ACT NOW: Stop Stoning in Afghanistan

Details of this campaign have been taken from the Safe World For Women website.

In August of 2010, Sediqa and Khayam of Kunduz province were stoned by their community and Taliban members after the Taliban ordered this public execution, because they had fell in love and ran away from their families. They were tricked into coming back to their area to get married and were stoned publicly by about 200 residents of the village. While the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, President Hamid Karzai’s spokesman and the Provincial Governor condemned this brutality, the head of the Ulema Council in Kunduz Province, Mawlawi Abdul Yaqub, said to a New York Times Journalist that stoning to death was the appropriate punishment for an illegal sexual relationship. No further action was taken to prosecute those involved in this criminal act of stoning.

On Thursday, November 10, 2011, a mother and daughter were shot in Ghazni province after they had stones thrown at them. While still debated whether or not this is a case of stoning, the fact remains that for weeks, the religious leaders in the area had been giving “fatwa” for the stoning of those involved in adultery.

While the Afghan Civil Code clarifies that cases of adultery the case must be brought to the Afghan legal court and not be decided on by religious leaders, Aamena and other victims of stoning are not given a fair trial and the criminals involved in their stoning have not been brought to justice. In short, little or no action has been taken by the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to prevent stoning of individuals in Afghanistan.

These acts of stoning women without a trial are not only illegal but also against the Islamic law, as articulated through Sunna, saying and doing of Prophet Muhammad, clarify that If married man and woman are caught in the act of adultery and there are four witnesses who explicitly see it, then both can be sentenced to death by stoning, Rajm. If unmarried men and women are seen during the act of adultery, the punishment for both of them is one hundred lashes. The restrictions put on this law, including the high level of proof it requires, are designed to protect individuals, especially women, not be used against them. In none of the cases above, have there been four witnesses who have explicitly seen adultery and women and men have been stoned based on mere accusations, never clearly proven to be true.

Read the rest of this piece here, or join the petition launched by Young Women for Change to stop this.

To get involved in Channel 16’s campaign in support of Afghan women’s rights in general, click here.