An Afghan woman was stoned to death for adultery

Amina, a 29 year-old married woman, was publicly stoned to death on the basis of a district court's decision

BBC News, April 23, 2005

A woman has been stoned to death in Afghanistan, reportedly for committing adultery. The killing is said to have taken place in the Argu district of north-eastern Badakhshan province.

A local Afghan government official confirmed the death, and said the government would investigate the case.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said the woman had been sentenced to death by a decree from the local religious scholar.

Stoning to death -- human rights scandal Discrimination against women in Afghanistan will continue to have grave consequences until the government takes concrete steps to end it, said Amnesty International following the killing by stoning of a 29 year-old woman accused of adultery. According to eyewitnesses, the 29-year old, named only as Amina, was dragged out of her parent's house in Urgu District, Badakhan province by her husband and local officials before being publicly stoned to death. The man accused of committing adultery with her is alleged to have been whipped a hundred times and freed. According to reports, Amina was condemned to death by local court and then killed within approximately 48 hours. "The case of Amina demonstrates the failure of the Afghan government to protect, ensure and dispense justice, particularly for women," said Amnesty International. "The Afghan government has the responsibility of protecting women from violence, committed not only by the state but also by private individuals and groups." Amnesty International welcomes the promised investigation by the Afghan government into Amina's unlawful death and to bring all those responsible to justice.

Amnesty International Press Release, 26 April 2005

Under Afghan law, cases such as this should go through the local courts.

A reporter for the BBC Pashto service in Afghanistan said the woman's husband recently returned from Iran after five years away. The wife asked for a separation on the grounds that her husband could not support her.

However, he said she was having improper relations with another man. It is not known if the couple had any children.

Correspondents say this is the second time a woman has been stoned to death since the ousting of the Taleban in 2001.

Both events happened in the same area. During the Taleban's rule, women were regularly stoned to death for adultery.

FAIZABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters, Apr.23,2005) - An Afghan woman has been stoned to death for adultery, police said on Sunday. Amina, a 29 year-old married woman, was publicly stoned to death on the basis of a district court's decision on Thursday in Argo district to the west of Faizabad, the provincial capital of Badakhshan, they said.

"She has been stoned to death," provincial police chief, General Shah Jahan Noori, confirmed to Reuters, adding a team has been sent to the area to investigate the incident further.

Several women and men were given such punishments in Badakhshan, a remote northeastern province, during the government of the Mujahideen (holy warriors) in the 1990s.

A witness, Mujibur Rahman, told Reuters that Amina was dragged out of her parent's house by local officials and her husband who stoned her to death while the man was flogged, whipped 100 times and then freed.