The Judiciary of Mazandaran province announced that one hand of a prisoner convicted of 28 counts of stealing was cut off on Thursday in the presence of judicial authorities in prison.

The sentence was executed despite the fact that Iran is a member of the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which according to its article seven, “no one should face torture or humiliation or inhumane and barbaric punishment.”

The Judiciary’s statement claims that the sentence was executed due to “people’s expectation” and says: “People’s constant expectation is to seriously punish thieves and because of that, one hand of a thief who had confessed to 28 counts of robbery from people’s houses in Mahmoud Abad and Nour were cut off in the presence of judicial authorities in Sari prison.”

Violent sentences such as stoning, cutting off a hand or even a hand and a foot are still practiced by the Islamic Republic and flogging is very common. Iran has been regularly criticized by the United Nations and its human rights reporters for such clear violations of human rights.

These violent sentences have strong supporters among the Islamic Republic’s high ranking officials, who sometimes even express regret for the decrease in the numbers of such verdicts.

The country’s Attorney General expressed his regret last year about stepping away from the divine rule in the Quranic texts in order to avoid condemnation by the UN on Human Rights.