Iran carries out finger amputation sentence, rights group says
Iran has amputated the fingers of a prisoner on alleged theft charges despite the plaintiff’s pardon, Norway-based human rights group Hengaw reported on Friday.
Iran has amputated the fingers of a prisoner on alleged theft charges despite the plaintiff’s pardon, Norway-based human rights group Hengaw reported on Friday.
The report said the punishment was carried out on September 30 at Isfahan Central Prison (Dastgerd Prison) against 37-year-old Mohsen Ashiri, also known as Mohsen Lorazbakhsh Falavarjani, a member of the Lor Bakhtiari ethnic minority from Zazran in Isfahan province, central Iran.
Hengaw said Ashiri had been sentenced by an Isfahan court to six months in prison and the amputation of four fingers on his right hand.
He was released after serving his term and posting bail of 10 billion rials (about $8,890), following the plaintiff’s consent.
The court later demanded he post a new bail of 200 trillion rials (about $1.78 million), the report said.
When he failed to pay, the sentence was carried out less than a month after his re-arrest.
Hengaw condemned the punishment as “a clear violation of human dignity” and “tantamount to torture,” urging Iran to halt such practices.
In July, Iran amputated the fingers of three men convicted of theft at Urmia Central Prison on Wednesday night, the human rights group Hengaw said.
International human rights organizations have consistently condemned such punishments.
In April, Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran, told Iran International in an interview that "corporal punishment, including amputation, is absolutely prohibited under international law. And if executed, will amount to torture or ill-treatment."
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Iran is a signatory, explicitly prohibits inhumane or degrading punishments. Human rights advocates argue that amputation sentences violate the fundamental principle of human dignity enshrined in international law.
At least 237 individuals in Iran were sentenced to amputation between 1 January 2000 and 24 September 2020, with at least 129 of those sentences carried out, according to Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office.
