Stoning

The National Post recently had a fascinating article about the practice of stoning in Iran. From the article:

Since 1980, at least 150 men and women have been stoned to death in Iran, said Farshad Hoseini, head of the International Committee against Execution, who has compiled a report on the practice from media reports and human rights organizations.

However, he cautions in the report, “It should be pointed out that obtaining a true and complete list of the victims is extremely difficult, if not totally impossible, due to the regime’s systematic censorship of such news.”

He added, “Stoning in Iran is a political tool in the hands of an Islamic regime to oppress the society as a whole in one of the most savage ways. The overwhelming majority of the victims of stoning are women. Stoning in Iran is therefore a tool, among many such religious, oppressive tools, for keeping women in their place.”

The illustrations in the accompanying infographic provide the brutal details. It’s really a shocking read. There’s something about the banal codification of the practice that is especially scary. With that said, I’m certainly not proud of the executions in the US, and people in glass houses shouldn’t, well, you know…