Amnesty: Iran cut off fingers of two thieves

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — An Iranian court has amputated the fingers of two young men charged with of burglary and theft, rights group Amnesty International said in statement on Tuesday.  

According to state-affiliated newspaper of Khorasan, one of young men referred to as MA, 26, was convicted of stealing  people’ valuables and sentenced to finger amputation by Branch 136 of the General Criminal Court in Mashhad, Khorasan province, in northeast of Iran.    

The other man was sentenced to the same punishment for 10 counts of burglary, his identity and age was not revealed.

The two men were immediately transferred to a hospital after their fingers of their right hands were chopped off without any anesthetic. 

According to Article 278 of Iran’s Penal Code, the punishment for first-time theft is “amputation of the full length of four fingers of the right hand of the thief in such a manner that the thumb and palm of the hand remain.”

“These brutal punishments flagrantly violate international law and there is no place for them in the criminal justice system. The punishment of amputation is torture, a crime under international law,” read the Amnesty International statement.

“Iran, which is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), is legally bound to prohibit torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment,” Amnesty added.