17 September 2013

Yemen Urged To Commute Thief's Amputation Sentence By Amnesty International

Amnesty International has urged Yemen to commute a sentence of hand and foot amputation meted out to a man convicted of robbery, slamming the Islamic law-compliant verdict as "cruel".

A Sanaa court on Sunday ordered the amputation of the right hand and the left foot of a man found guilty of attacking another man and robbing him of cash he was transporting in a vehicle belonging to a money exchange firm.

"Amputation is a cruel punishment that amounts to torture and accordingly is a crime under international law," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Director in a statement. [Agence France Presse] Read more