Iranian human rights activist and former journalist Emad Baghi has been awarded the 2009 Martin Ennals Laureate Award. For a man who has been thrown in jail, threatened with death, and continues to struggle against the insurmountable odds in Tehran, Baghi is testament to a passion for justice and fundamental rights.
A peacemaker, his controversial writings – in particular his book Right To Life, claims that capital punishment has no place in Islamic jurisprudence and Sharia. Baghi’s scholarly work argues that the death penalty is not an absolute in the Qur’anic verses. Instead, it is the violence inherit within culture that condones an interpretation based on the practice of caliphs who apparently did stone individuals to death. Baghi argues that their dictates should not be the source of command.
The stoning verdict in traditional Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) is a legal command but it has no basis in the Qur’an. – Emad Baghi
Baghi uses the Koran and texts within to argue for human rights. In Iran, individuals are sentenced to death on the counsel of the state and the next of kin of the victim. The next of kin can decide whether to accept retribution, amnesty, or death.
In a letter addressed to the Chief of the Judiciary Islamic Republic of Iran, Baghi outlined the provisions within Islam that calls for mercy in crimes of murder and adultery. He quotes an al-Maidah sura that says whoever saves a life saves an entire people. Instead, he pleads that capital punishment only perpetuates the cycle of violence and in a sense, contradicts Islamic teachings.
It is people like Emad Baghi who hold the key to the future in conservative societies. Using the means at his disposal, he has fostered a movement that is spanning throughout this Persian state. He is on the frontline.
In the meantime, the United States and like-minded countries need to tread very gently. Democracy and plurality in Iran needs to be fostered from within and any explicit US government support may be counterproductive.
For those interested – read the article, The Bloodied Stone, by Baghi.
