Iran has suspended the penalty of death by stoning, commuting some sentences and putting others under review. Good. Capital punishment is bad enough, but stoning is a particularly hideous and sadistic way to kill someone, and Iran's method is specifically aimed at inflicting significant pain before death:
The country's penal code stipulates that before carrying out the punishment, men should be buried up to their waists and women up to their chests. The stones used must be large enough to cause the condemned pain, but not sufficient to kill immediately.Hopefully this suspension will see a permanent end to this terrible punishment.
