Iran faces condemnation for prisoner amputations
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A human rights watchdog reported a series of abuses in Iran during July, including the execution of at least four people and the amputation of the fingers of three prisoners, a punishment described as "torture" by a United Nations expert.
'At least four individuals were executed in Iran during July,' the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) said on Friday in its monthly report.
On Thursday, 'Iranian authorities amputated the fingers of three prisoners,' it added.
The three, identified as Hadi Rostami, Mehdi Sharifian, and Mehdi Shahivand, each had four fingers on their right hand amputated using a guillotine, leaving their thumbs and palms intact, according to KHRN.
The judiciary confirmed the punishment was carried out.
'Due to the lack of cooperation of the convicts, the verdict to amputate the hands of these three professional thieves was implemented after the legal procedures in the Prosecutor's Office, Criminal Court 1, and with final approval and certainty in the Supreme Court, taking into account all religious and legal measures,' the judiciary's media site Mizan stated on Thursday.
The amputation of hands is a prescribed punishment for thieves in Islamic Sharia law. Iran's penal code has a number of conditions for amputation sentences, including that the individual being punished is sane, not coerced, and did not commit the crime at a time of famine.
The punishment has drawn condemnation. UN special rapporteur Mai Sato expressed deep concern in a post on X on Thursday, calling it 'a flagrant violation of fundamental human rights' that constitutes torture and 'cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.'
KHRN also reported that a number of death sentences were handed down in July and 'at least five kolbars were shot and killed and four others were wounded by Iranian border guards.'
Kolbars are semi-legal porters who carry goods on their backs across the Kurdistan Region border into Iran. Many Kurds are driven into the trade by poverty.
The Oslo-based Hengaw Organization for Human Rights reported that 'twelve kolbars were killed or injured' in July.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Shafaq News
16 hours ago
- Shafaq News
Kirkuk: Arab man injured protecting Turkmen neighbor from assailants
Shafaq News – Kirkuk A resident of Kirkuk's Military District was hospitalized on Tuesday after he sheltered a Turkmen man fleeing from unidentified assailants—an incident hailed as a rare display of solidarity in the ethnically diverse city. A local source told Shafaq News that the Turkmen man was being chased by unknown individuals when he sought refuge at an Arab resident's home. 'The homeowner welcomed him and refused to hand him over, even under threat,' the source said. When the attackers attempted to break in, the Arab man intervened and was assaulted. He was later transferred to Kirkuk General Hospital for treatment. The act drew widespread praise across the area. Community members and social media users commended the man's courage, calling his actions a powerful example of unity amid the city's often fragile ethnic balance. Kirkuk, located in northern Iraq, is home to over 1.7 million people and ranks among the country's most diverse regions. Its population includes Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, as well as smaller Christian and Assyrian communities.
Rudaw Net
18 hours ago
- Rudaw Net
Baghdad says ready to receive any amount of oil from KRG
Also in ECONOMY KRG registers over 800k employees for digital financial initiative Erbil hands over oil to Baghdad, receives budget share Baghdad to resume payment of KRG salaries Tuesday: Deputy PM Iraq approves deal to resolve financial, oil disputes with KRG A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The head of the Iraqi Oil Marketing Company (SOMO) said on Monday the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has yet to hand over its oil to the federal company, adding that they are ready to receive any amount. Erbil recently agreed to hand over all oil produced in the Region to Baghdad in return for its share of the federal budget. Ali Nizar Faiq, General Director of SOMO, told the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) late Monday that the KRG has not delivered any amount of oil to the company. A recent agreement between Erbil and Baghdad obliges the Kurdish government to export all of the oil produced from its fields - estimated at 230,000 barrels per day - through SOMO while retaining 50,000 barrels per day for local consumption. SOMO 'has completed all contractual procedures for exporting oil through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, and is ready to receive any quantities delivered from the Region,' the head of the company said. The KRG said in a statement last week that it is ready to export all its oil through SOMO, reiterating its adherence to 'mutual understanding between both sides.' Following the agreement, the Iraqi government disbursed May salaries for the KRG's civil servants after nearly three months of delay. The fate of the remaining unpaid salaries remains unclear as Baghdad has conditioned any future payments on the resumption of Kurdish oil exports. Oil exports from the Kurdistan Region through the Iraq-Turkey pipeline have been halted since March 2023 when a Paris-based arbitration court ruled in favor of Baghdad against Ankara, saying the latter had violated a 1973 pipeline agreement by allowing Erbil to begin exporting oil independently in 2014. A final agreement between the KRG, the Iraqi government, and international oil companies operating in the Kurdistan Region on the future of Kurdish oil exports has not yet been reached.
Rudaw Net
20 hours ago
- Rudaw Net
Hezbollah censures Iraqi PM over deadly Baghdad clashes
A+ A- ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The powerful pro-Iranian group Kataib Hezbollah on Monday criticized Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani for his response to a recent deadly attack on a branch of the agriculture ministry in Baghdad, accusing him of incompetence. The United States has blamed the group for the incident. Armed men affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) attacked an agriculture ministry office in Baghdad's Karkh district late last month leaving three people dead - a policeman, a civilian, and a member of Kataib Hezbollah. Baghdad confirmed that the perpetrators of the attack were PMF members. Abu Ali al-Askari, the head of Kataib Hezbollah Security Bureau, said in a statement on Monday that the Baghdad incident was a 'trap whose treads were tightened by the hand of one of the Shiite traitors,' without naming anyone. He claimed that "corrupt security leaders are working to serve the American and Israeli project represented in chaos and division' and accused Sudani of lacking military experience and the characteristics of a good leader. Askari also called on the ruling coalition to replace Sudani with a "qualified" individual. A day after the attack, the US embassy in Baghdad blamed Hezbollah for the incident and called on the Iraqi authorities to hold the faction responsible. Washington holds Kataib Hezbollah, a key player in the Iran-led "Axis of Resistance," responsible for numerous attacks on US assets in the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October 2023. Sudani has vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable and ordered a probe into the attack. The pro-Tehran group has denied involvement in the attack. Iraq's Shiite-led Coordination Framework also condemned the attack as a 'violation of the law and state procedures.'
