Iranian authorities have transferred two imprisoned brothers, Shahab and Mehrdad Teymouri, who have been sentenced to finger amputation, from Eslamabad-e Gharb Prison in Kermanshah Province to solitary confinement in Orumiyeh Central Prison in West Azerbaijan Province, raising fears of imminent execution of their sentences.

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) has learned that Shahab, 39, and Mehrdad, 34, were previously transferred to Eslamabad-e Gharb in late September to be closer to their family home.

After three weeks, however, both were returned to Orumiyeh Central Prison on 23 October for unknown reasons and placed in solitary confinement by order of the prosecutor. 

On 24 October, a forensic team from Orumiyeh examined the brothers, and with the amputation sentence against them still legally upheld, concerns have grown about the judiciary’s intention to carry out the sentence.

Mehrdad Teymouri, born 21 September 1990, and Shahab Teymouri, born 9 June 1985, from Sarpol-e Zahab and residing in Karaj, were arrested on 6 December 2018, along with another civilian, Ebrahim Khatibi, for alleged theft in Malard, Tehran Province.

According to a court document obtained by KHRN, Orumiyeh Criminal Investigation Department alleges that the three Karaj residents, who reportedly have a history of theft and legal restitution, committed a robbery at a private home in Orumiyeh before being arrested in Malard.

On 24 July 2019, the trial of the three prisoners was held at Branch One of the Orumiyeh Juvenile and Criminal Court, and all three were sentenced to the amputation of their right hand fingers for theft.

Following appeals by their court-appointed lawyers, the case was referred to Branch 24 of the Supreme Court, which in April 2020 upheld the sentences of Shahab and Mehrdad Teymouri, while overturning the sentence of Ebrahim Khatibi on the grounds that his crime did not meet the criteria for punitive amputation.

Currently, five other prisoners in Orumiyeh Central Prison – Hadi Rostami, Mehdi Sharifian, Mehdi Shahivand, Kasra Karami and Morteza Esmaeilian – are also serving sentences that include the amputation of fingers.

Previously, on 25 September 2020, the World Medical Association (WMA) issued a strongly worded letter urging Iranian officials to lift the amputation sentences, stating that such sentences leave individuals with irreversible disabilities and undermine their dignity.

The international organisation stressed that such inhumane practices have no place in nations governed by law, stating: “The WMA will support any Iranian doctor who refuses to participate in finger amputations on prisoners,” noting that “the involvement of doctors in torture practices is a flagrant violation of medical ethics.”

International conventions on torture and civil and political rights prohibit the use of inhumane punishments such as amputation. 

Although Iran has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, it remains one of the few countries that has not acceded to the UN Convention against Torture and continues to impose amputation sentences for certain crimes.