Iran to amputate hand of Kurd on charges of theft

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A detainee from the Kermanshah (Kermanshan) province of Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhilat) who was convicted of theft was recently given a hand amputation sentence, a rights group said on Wednesday.

In October 2015, Iran’s security forces captured Kasra Karami on allegations of theft in Urmia, West Azerbaijan. Since then, he has been held in the city’s central prison, reported Hengaw, a group that writes on human rights violations against Rojhilatis.

Hengaw did not provide details of the act committed by the man.

Three years later, the Urmia Criminal Court, as per Article 201 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, ruled to cut off the four fingers from the hand of Karami, who is now 38.

According to Article 201, a first-time offender would lose the four fingers of their right hand. If repeated, the left foot would be cut off; on the third occasion, life imprisonment, and if committed for the fourth time – even if the act is committed in prison – the sentence would be the death penalty.

International human rights organizations have repeatedly called on Iran to discontinue such rulings, reminding that amputation as a legal punishment violates Article seven of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

The article prohibits subjecting individuals “to torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment.”

Editing by Nadia Riva