On Wednesday, July 30, 2025, the Iranian government carrier out three amputation sentences. This punishment, which is carried out on individuals convicted of certain kinds of theft, involves severing four fingers from the right hand of the convicted person. Hadi Rostami (39), Mehdi Sharafian (41), and Mehdi Shahivand (29), prisoners held in Oroumieh Central Prison. are the latest victims of this mode of punishment. According to the Kurdistan Human Rights Network, citing informed sources, the three prisoners were summoned to the prison guard office at 10 PM that night. After being blindfolded, handcuffed, and shackled, they were transferred to the execution site. Before midnight, in the presence of the prison warden Peyman Khanzadeh, deputy prosecutor Saeed Nouri, and several other judicial officials, the sentence was carried out.
Following the amputations, the prisoners were briefly transferred to a medical center in Oroumieh for bandaging and were returned to the prison's reception ward without receiving full medical care.
Earlier in March 2025, after being summoned to the prison's sentence enforcement office and upon being informed that it was their final chance to obtain the plaintiffs’ consent in their case, Hadi Rostami wrote a letter to human rights organizations pleading for help and reiterating his innocence. Rostami stated he was arrested in 2017 on accusations of 22 counts of theft. Despite repeatedly claiming innocence and having no knowledge of the thefts, he was subjected to severe torture in the Oroumieh police detention center and forced to sign blank confession papers.
In his letter, he asked: “How can I seek forgiveness from people I’ve never harmed? And how can I or my impoverished family possibly compensate the plaintiffs financially?”
He appealed to the United Nations and all human rights bodies to act immediately to stop the inhumane sentence.
Following news of the amputations, Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, condemned the action on X (formerly Twitter), calling it “state-sanctioned mutilation” and a “clear violation of fundamental human rights.” She described the punishment as a form of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, which violates Iran’s obligations under international law, including Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights—an article that strictly prohibits such actions.
@iranhrdc
#HadiRostami
#MehdiSharafian
#MehdiShahivand
Following the amputations, the prisoners were briefly transferred to a medical center in Oroumieh for bandaging and were returned to the prison's reception ward without receiving full medical care.
Earlier in March 2025, after being summoned to the prison's sentence enforcement office and upon being informed that it was their final chance to obtain the plaintiffs’ consent in their case, Hadi Rostami wrote a letter to human rights organizations pleading for help and reiterating his innocence. Rostami stated he was arrested in 2017 on accusations of 22 counts of theft. Despite repeatedly claiming innocence and having no knowledge of the thefts, he was subjected to severe torture in the Oroumieh police detention center and forced to sign blank confession papers.
In his letter, he asked: “How can I seek forgiveness from people I’ve never harmed? And how can I or my impoverished family possibly compensate the plaintiffs financially?”
He appealed to the United Nations and all human rights bodies to act immediately to stop the inhumane sentence.
Following news of the amputations, Mai Sato, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, condemned the action on X (formerly Twitter), calling it “state-sanctioned mutilation” and a “clear violation of fundamental human rights.” She described the punishment as a form of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, which violates Iran’s obligations under international law, including Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights—an article that strictly prohibits such actions.
@iranhrdc
#HadiRostami
#MehdiSharafian
#MehdiShahivand