Amnesty International has issued a demand for Iran to immediately end carrying out retribution sentences as three inmates await being blinded, part of what the rights group called an "alarming" increase in such punishments.
In a statement issued on October 5, Amnesty said two men and a woman were at "imminent risk" of judicially sanctioned blinding after their cases were sent to a unit of the judiciary in Tehran to carry out the sentences under the principle of "qesas" (retribution in kind).
"[We] call on you to immediately stop any plans to implement any blinding sentences, and quash the blinding sentences of all three as they amount to torture, and grant them fair retrials without resorting to corporal punishments," Amnesty said in the statement.
Islamic law adheres to the notion of an "eye for an eye" under the qesas principle. Victims or their families have the final say in such cases and can stop the punishment.
The implementation of corporal punishment under Islamic law, including lashings, amputations, and blinding, is controversial in Iran, where many citizens have criticized it as inhumane and barbaric.
Such retribution sentences used to be rare but have increased in frequency since 2015.
Human rights groups say the punishments violate international laws and amount to torture and the cruel treatment of those convicted while requiring doctors to administer such procedures violates medical ethical codes.
In the past, Iranian officials have admitted that it has been difficult to find medical professionals willing to carry out punishments.
"Iran is a state party to ICCPR [the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights] and as such is legally obliged to prohibit and punish torture in all circumstances and without exception," Amnesty said.
Amnesty International has previously said that the penalties expose "the utter brutality of Iran’s justice system and underlines the Iranian authorities' shocking disregard for basic humanity."