Iran

Amnesty International has urged Iran to drop from its penal code the punishment of death by stoning, a fate awaiting 11 convicted criminals, the group says. Stoning to death is a “horrific practice, designed to increase the suffering” of those condemned, the U.K.-based rights group says in a report. Three people are said to have been stoned for adultery, a crime in Iran, since 2002, despite a moratorium. The majority sentenced to death by stoning are women, Amnesty says. (BBC)