The Iranian judiciary confirmed this week that Jafar Kiani was executed during a public stoning last Thursday for committing adultery. This is the first time that Iran has formally confirmed a stoning in five years, BBC reports. Kiani and his companion, Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, had been in prison for 11 years. Ebrahimi remains in prison, and may also be executed soon. Both were originally set to be executed on June 21.
Adultery is a capital offense in Iran and is punishable by death by stoning. A male victim is buried to the waist with his hands tied, while a woman is buried to the neck with her hands also buried. Those present then throw rocks and stones at the victims until they die.
Both Amnesty International and the United Nations have denounced the death of Kiani and have called for Ebrahimi to be spared. Iran has signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and has therefore pledged to obey the declaration that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” International human rights groups agree that the practice of stoning violates this covenant.
