Torture and illegal death sentences exposed, so why haven't Bahrain executions been stopped?

Photo: children of Mohammed Ramadan looking at a photo of their father

The Kingdom of Bahrain is targeting those who dare to speak out against the regime for arrest, torture and illegal death sentences.

Reprieve and other organisations have been working to expose human rights abuses in Bahrain – and now the Attorney General has recommended retrials for two torture victims facing imminent execution.  But executions are imminent and no retrials have been set.  Here are five things you should know about Bahrain human rights abuses

1. Executions

In 2017, Bahrain made a dangerous return to the death penalty, executing three torture victims by firing squad. All three men – Abbas al-Samea, Sami Mushaima, and Ali al-Singace – were targeted because of their links to peaceful political opposition.

2. Torture

The three men executed last year, and those facing execution right now, were tortured in the most horrific ways. This included electrocution of the body and genitals, beating, hanging from the ceilling, sexual assault and forced confessions at gunpoint.

3. Maher Abbas al-Khabbaz

Maher was forced to sign a false ‘confession’ at gunpoint and sentenced to death. Once the King signs his death warrant, Maher could be executed at any moment. Maher was tortured both physically and phycologically so severely that he was eventually transferred to a military hospital for treatment.

4.  Mohammed Ramadhan

Mohammed is a father of three children and a former police officer. In detention, other officers told him they knew he was innocent, but were punishing him as a traitor for attending pro-democracy demonstrations. Mohammed was tortured, refused access to a lawyer, and convicted in a trial that relied on evidence extracted through torture. Bahraini torture investigators trained by the UK government have recommended that Bahrain reconsider Mohamed’s death sentence.

5. Husain Moosa

Husain was arrested on the same day as Mohammed Ramadhan, tortured and sentenced to death. His interrogators took turns beating him with batons on his back and genitals. They handcuffed him and hung him from the ceiling for three days–all to extract a false confession that would be used to sentence him to death. UK-trained torture investigators have recommended that Husain’s death sentence be reconsidered, together with Mohamed’s.