Eye for an eye sentence cruel Amnesty
Amnesty International has slammed a sentence handed down to a man for a crime he committed as a teenager in Iran 12 years ago.
The man, reports The Independent, is to have his eyes surgically removed, although local human rights groups say these unusual punishments are hardly ever executed. The man, known only as Vahid, blinded a man when he threw a container of acid at him and the lid came off. A court said the crime should be judged as qisas, a category for which the Koran stipulates specific punishments, in this case an eye for an eye. Amnesty described the sentence as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment amounting to torture. It called for a change of sentence. Full report in The Independent