Man has fingers cut off by Iran authorities as punishment for theft

‘It is a harrowing assault against human dignity,’ says rights group Amnesty International

Stock image. (iStock/Getty)

A man has had his fingers cut off by Iranian authorities for stealing, in a punishment condemned by human rights advocates.

Amnesty International branded the amputation, carried out at a prison in Sari, in the northern province of Mazandaran, as “an abhorrent form of torture”.

The local justice department said the unnamed man had committed 28 cases of theft in a public announcement on Wednesday.

According to Iran’s Islamic penal code, theft “on the first occasion” is punishable by amputation of the “full length of four fingers of the right hand in such a manner that the thumb and palm of the hand remain”.

The justice department defended its actions, claiming they were part of its policy to “crackdown, severely and without hesitation, on those who disrupt public order and security and steal public funds”.

However Saleh Higazi, Amnesty International’s deputy Middle East and North Africa director, condemned the punishment as a “harrowing assault against human dignity”.

He said: “Premeditated maiming and mutilation of individuals is not justice.

“It is shameful that the authorities would attempt to present this punishment as anything other than what it is: an abhorrent form of torture.

“Reforms to Iran’s penal code that would put an end to this outrageous practice are long overdue.”

The last time Iranian authorities amputated a hand for a theft conviction was in January 2018 when a 34-year-old man was convicted of stealing livestock.

Iranian authorities are believed to have issued at least 215 amputation sentences and carried out 125 amputations between 2007 and 2017, according to the Iran Human Rights Monitor.