GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Two UN experts on Thursday demanded Iran halt imminent finger amputations for three jailed men, calling the punishment a violation of international law against torture.

“Iran must immediately stop this severe corporal punishment, which violates international human rights standards,” the two — Mai Sato, UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in Iran, and Alice Jill Edwards, special rapporteur on torture — said in a statement.

“These planned amputations violate the absolute prohibition of torture and ill-treatment,” said Sato.

The independent experts, who were appointed by the UN Human Rights Council but do not speak on behalf of the United Nations, warned the men had been told the amputations could happen as early as Friday.

The three men in question had been convicted of theft in November 2019 and sentenced to amputation.

Iran’s Supreme Court had upheld the verdict in May 2020, despite allegations that the men’s confessions were extracted under torture, the experts said.

“Courts must investigate allegations of torture and exclude evidence obtained through coercion,” the experts said.

Finger amputations are part of Iran’s range of punishments under its sharia law. There are no official data on the exact number of such sentences carried out over the years.

Last October, two people in Orumiyeh Central Prison had four fingers each amputated from their right hands using a guillotine, the experts said.

They highlighted that several other prisoners in that prison were reportedly also facing amputations in connection with theft charges.

“The practice of amputation as a punishment continues to raise serious concerns about human rights and the treatment of prisoners under Iranian law,” the experts said.

The reported amputations come as concern grows over a recent surge in the number of executions in Iran.

Iran, the world’s most prolific user of the death penalty after China, has already executed 245 people this year, according to the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR).