Iran prepares mass finger amputation of 'thieves' in brutal sharia punishment

Iranian authorities are preparing to chop disconnected the fingers from the hands of 3 men convicted of robbery arsenic portion of their horrific punishment.

Hadi Rostami, Mehdi Sharfian and Mehdi Shahivand, who are being held successful Urumieh Central prison, West Azerbaijan province, are waiting to acquisition the 'cruel and irreversible' punishment of digit amputation arsenic aboriginal arsenic April 11, quality rights organisation Amnesty International said today. 

All 3 men were arrested successful August 2017 and convicted of robbery successful 2019 aft a 'grossly unfair trial', successful which the tribunal sentenced them to person 4 fingers connected their close hands wholly chopped off.

The men were reportedly denied entree to lawyers and courts relied connected forced 'confessions', which saw each 3 get beaten, kicked and flogged.

Rostami's manus was breached and interrogators threatened to rape Shahivand to get confessions retired of them, which they person since retracted. 

Since getting the gruesome sentence, each 3 person gone connected aggregate hunger strikes successful situation to protestation the inhumane conditions they person been subjected to, arsenic good arsenic their conviction.

In February 2021, Rostami was further tortured aft Iranian authorities carried retired a flogging condemnation of 60 lashes for 'disrupting situation order' aft helium went connected hunger strike. He has besides attempted termination respective times, Amnesty said. 

Following Iran's latest threats to hack the men's digit off, Rostami wrote a missive from situation pleading for assistance from the planetary community. 

'I telephone upon quality rights organisations, the United Nations, and the planetary assemblage to instrumentality urgent enactment to forestall the implementation of this inhumane sentence', helium wrote. 

In November 2024, the trio besides wrote a missive describing their intelligence anguish and the 'constant nightmare' of awaiting their mutilations.

'We person been incapable to slumber oregon eat, anxiously awaiting the enforcement of our ain sentences…This nightmare indispensable extremity truthful that we tin find a mode backmost to life', they wrote. 

The brutal punishment of digit amputation is allowed nether the Islamic Republic's penal codification but is wide condemned arsenic abhorrent and amerciable by quality rights activists. 

Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director Sarah Hashash said successful a connection today: 'Amputation constitutes torture, which is simply a transgression nether planetary instrumentality and is simply a flagrant and abhorrent battle connected quality dignity. 

'We telephone connected the Iranian authorities to instantly halt each plans to transportation retired these cruel and inhuman sentences and abolish each forms of corporal punishment successful instrumentality and practice.'

She besides described the 'waking nightmare' the men person endured for astir a decennary having had to unrecorded with intelligence torture that the authorities could astatine immoderate infinitesimal mutilate their bodies. 

'The planned amputations, based connected 'confessions' obtained nether torture and pursuing grossly unfair trials, are a chilling reminder of the Iranian authorities' readiness to inflict irreversible suffering and that Iran's judicial strategy is simply a captious cog successful the machinery of torture', she added. 

Hashash besides warned that Iranian authorities are 'liable to look transgression prosecution nether planetary law'.

Finger amputations are permitted successful the Islamic Republic nether its Sharia law. 

When specified sentences are carried out, 4 fingers of the close manus are chopped disconnected truthful lone the thenar of the manus and thumb is left. 

According to the US-based Abdorrahman Boroumand Centre, Iranian authorities person amputated the fingers of astatine slightest 131 men since January 2000.

Back successful October, Iranian authorities amputated fingers from the hands of 2 men convicted of theft. 

The 2 brothers of Kurdish root each had 4 fingers connected their close hands amputated by a guillotine instrumentality astatine the situation successful the metropolis of Urmia successful northwest Iran, according to reports.

They were past transferred to infirmary for aesculapian care, the reports added.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said Shahab and Mehrdad Teimouri were initially arrested successful 2019 connected theft charges and sentenced to imprisonment and digit amputation.

It comes amid increasing concerns implicit the surge successful the fig of executions successful Iran successful caller months. 

These included the hanging of German nationalist of Iranian origin Jamshid Sharmahd backmost successful October. 

His household says helium was abducted by Iranian forces portion successful the United Arab Emirates successful 2020.

According to different Norway-based NGO, Iran Human Rights, Iran has executed 633 radical this twelvemonth alone.

Activists impeach the authorities of utilizing superior punishment arsenic a mode of instilling fearfulness passim society.