The Iranian government confirmed July 11 that a man was executed by stoning last week for adultery, and that 20 more men would be executed in the coming days on morality violations. The stoning of Jaffar Kiani, 47, was carried out near the city of Takestan, despite a stay of execution order by the chief of the judiciary, Ayatollah Mahmoud Shahroudi. "The verdict was final, and so it was carried out for the man but not for the woman," the ISNA news agency quoted a judiciary spokesman as saying. He said the 20 more executions were for "rape, insulting religious sanctities and laws, and homosexuality." Local newspaper Etemad Melli said: "Villagers said the sentence was carried out by the local judge and authorities." Most executions in Iran are hangings, often in public at the alleged crime scenes. Police arrested some 1,000 in May during a morality crackdown. Fifteen more men are being tried and could receive death sentences. (NYT, July 11)

Human Rights Watch has issued an urgent call to prevent the execution by stoning of Mokarrameh Ebrahimi, the 43-year-old mother of three children by Kiani. In a letter to Shahrudi, HRW called on the Iranian authorities to revoke regulations of the Islamic Penal Code that permit execution by stoning. (AlertNet, July 11) Iran has opened an investigation into the judge who ordered the stoning execution of Kiani, the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reports. Some judicial officials are taking steps to see that the moratorium on stoning is enforced. (Jurist, July 11)

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