Humanist groups have embraced July 11 as an opportunity to educate the public about stoning, which is still, incredibly, a regularly practiced form of capital punishment throughout the world. Scriptural dictates are often cited as justification for this cruel form of “justice,” with women and girls constituting the most common group of victims — often for such “crimes” as appearing in public without a veil or being raped by someone other than their husbands. (Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani was only spared this form of execution due to an international outcry, but she and her lawyer remain in prison in Iran.)
Many organizations across the globe have joined with the International Committee Against Stoning in condemning the practice and calling for its immediate end. Rational and ethical people everywhere should, in the words of The American Humanist Association, “strive to protect the dignity of all and work to protect those accused of crimes based on fundamentalist restrictions on women.”
