Tehran, Dec. 02 – Iranian authorities amputated the hand of a man in a prison in the western province of Kermanshah.
The sentence was carried out on Wednesday in the presence of local judiciary officials and other prisoners, according to the state-run news agency ISNA. The report did not identify the man other than to say that he had been convicted of stealing.
Iran’s Islamic penal system regularly practices centuries-old sentences for petty crimes, such as amputation of limbs, eye gouging, stoning to death, and throwing prisoners off a cliff in a sac.
On 24 October, state radio reported that authorities amputated the hand of a 32-year-old man in front of other prisoners in the central city of Yazd.
On 16 October, the state-run Fars news agency reported that an Iranian court had condemned a 21-year-old man convicted of stealing chocolates and cocoa from a Tehran pastry shop to have a hand chopped off.
On 22 July, authorities amputated the hands of five men accused of stealing in the city of Hamedan, western Iran, the state-run news agency ILNA reported.
On 2 July, authorities amputated the hand of a man accused of stealing in the city of Malayer, western Iran, the semi-official daily Kayhan reported.
International human rights bodies have repeatedly called on the regime to halt inhumane and degrading punishments.