Iran amputates two brothers for theft: Watchdog

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region -Two Kurdish citizens convicted of theft in Iran had their fingers amputated at Urmia’s central prison on Tuesday, according to a report by a human rights organization.

“Shahab and Mehrdad Teimouri were each sentenced by Branch 1 of the Juvenile Court in West Azerbaijan to the amputation of four fingers on their right hands,” Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said on Tuesday.

The brothers, originally from Kermanshah province, were initially arrested in 2019 on theft charges.

They were subsequently sentenced to finger amputation by the court and “were then transported to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Urmia for medical care,” HRANA said.

Article 198 of the Islamic Republic’s Penal Code has a number of conditions for the amputation sentences. Among the main conditions is that the individual being punished is sane, not coerced, and had not committed the crime at a time of famine.

Iran has been controlled by a strict Islamic theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Amputation of hands is a prescribed punishment for thieves in Islam’s Sharia law.

Iran is also among the world’s most prolific executioners.

In Iran, many people are executed on drug-related offences, which Amnesty International in June called a “deadly war on the poor” that targets disadvantaged and marginalized communities.

Executions also frequently follow convictions that are based on confessions condemned by rights groups as often obtained under duress.