NCRI Staff
NCRI – The Iranian Regime used a guillotine to amputate a man’s hand on Tuesday, according to a report in the sponsored newspaper Khorasan News.
The 34-year-old man, referred to only as A. Kh., had his hand amputated at a prison in Iran’s second-biggest city Mashhad after being convicted of theft six years ago. His sentence was upheld by the Khorasan Criminal Court of Appeal.
The Iranian Regime claim that this is the best way to deter theft and have previously expressed regret that they cannot practice this medieval punishment in public and on a regular basis without attracting international condemnation.
They have not escaped condemnation, however. Amnesty International has expressed outrage at this cruel and unusual punishment which violates international human rights law.
Magdalena Mughrabi, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International, said: “Meting out such unspeakably cruel punishments is not justice and serves to highlight the Iranian authorities’ complete disregard for human dignity. There is no place for such brutality in a robust criminal justice system. Amputation is torture plain and simple, and administering torture is a crime under international law. As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Iran is legally obliged to forbid torture in all circumstances and without exception. Those responsible for ordering and executing such practices should know that they are liable to criminal prosecution under international law.”
The Regime disagrees. Mohammad Javad Larijani, the head of Iran’s so-called Human Rights Council, had the gall to tell the UN Human Rights Council in 2010 that amputations are not torture and are “culturally and religiously justified”.
This is frankly untrue and many Iranians feel that these inhumane punishments should be abolished, but the human rights defenders who express their opposition have faced persecution for the Regime for it.
Mughrabi said: “It is appalling that the Iranian authorities continue to impose and carry out amputation sentences, and justify this legalized brutality in the name of religion, culture and crime prevention. The Iranian authorities must urgently abolish all forms of corporal punishment and move towards a criminal justice system that is focused on rehabilitation and treats prisoners humanely.”
In 2017, dozens of amputation sentences were handed out by judges and upheld by the Supreme Court. In one case, they amputated a man’s hand and executed him 10 days later.
In fact, over the last ten years the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation reports at least 215 amputation sentences and 125 amputations. The Regime also arbitrarily imprisons the convicted people, despite no prison sentence being issued.
There are many prisoners in every province who are at risk of this brutal punishment and others like it, including flogging and blinding.