Iran set to amputate fingers of six prisoners: Amnesty International

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Six men in Iran are at imminent risk of having their fingers amputated following unfair trials and torture, Amnesty International warned on Thursday.

Prosecutors are reportedly preparing to bring a guillotine to Urmia prison in northwestern Iran, where they will amputate the fingers of up to six men convicted of theft – a punishment sanctioned by Article 201 of Iran’s Penal Code.

For a first theft offence, the penal codes prescribe “amputation of the full length of four fingers of the right hand” – a sentence carried out at a rate of a least once every two months, according to figures provided to Amnesty by the Abdorrahman Bouroumand Centre.

Iran is readying its “tools of torture” for “unspeakably cruel” punishments, said Amnesty’s Deputy Director for Middle East and North Africa Diana Eltahawy. 

“Amputation is judicially-sanctioned torture, and a serious crime under international law. We call on the Iranian authorities to immediately quash the amputation sentences, abolish all forms of corporal punishment, and grant effective remedies to victims,” she added.

The six prisoners were denied access to lawyers and convicted under “torture-tainted” convictions, Amnesty added.

Known as one of the world’s most prolific executioners, the Islamic Republic has been subject to heightened scrutiny this week amid reports it was set to execute Ahmedreza Djalali, a Swedish-Iranian doctor on death row for charges of espionage, and the return of prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh to Qarchak prison after her temporary release last month. 

Djalali’s execution has been postponed “for several days”, his wife told the Voice of America on Wednesday.

At least 10 dual and foreign nationals are imprisoned in Iran, according to figures from the US-based Centre for Human Rights in Iran.

Outgoing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo raised the issue of US citizens detained in Iran on Thursday, saying Washington should not reenter the nuclear deal with Tehran – from which it unilaterally withdrew in 2018 - until its citizens are freed.