(Beirut) – Bahraini courts have convicted and sentenced to death defendants in grossly unfair trials only or mainly for confessions allegedly extracted through torture and ill-treatment, Human Rights Watch and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy said in a joint report released today.
The 61-page report, “‘Court Satisfied with Confession’: Bahrain’s Death Sentences Follow Torture, Mock Trials,” based largely on court records and other official documents, revealed gross and persistent human rights violations underlying the death sentences and sentences. . of the cases of 8 men reviewed for the report. The men are among 26 who are on death row lately, their calls have dried up. , as required by foreign and Bahraini law. The courts violated the defendants’ rights to a fair trial, adding the right to suggest during interrogations, the right to cross-examine prosecution witnesses and on the basis of secret reports.
“Bahraini officials claim that the government respects fundamental human rights, but on a case-by-case basis, courts have relied on forced confessions despite credible allegations of torture and ill-treatment,” said Michael Page, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “The numerous human rights violations underlying these death sentences reflect not a formula of justice but a style of injustice. “
Bahrain has executed six more people since 2017, when it ended a de facto seven-year moratorium on the death penalty. The 26 men recently on death row could be executed once King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa has upheld his sentence.
Each of the 8 defendants credibly claimed that their confession was obtained through torture and ill-treatment. The prosecution and courts failed to investigate those allegations, which in some cases were supported by doctors’ findings. However, the courts summarily concluded that there was no mistreatment nor did the abuse occur in abstract decisions full of inconsistencies and, in some cases, contradicted through indisputable evidence.
Bahrain’s courts have also systematically violated the basic rights to due process and a fair trial. It appears that none of the accused was allowed to be questioned by a lawyer. In at least two cases, defendants were denied access to incriminating evidence used in the trial. including, in one case, a report that relied on secret resources that the defense was unable to cross-examine. In another case, the court did not allow the defendant to present witnesses on his behalf.
“It is appalling to sentence others to death amid allegations of torture and after grossly unfair trials,” said Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, representative of Human Rights Watch and lead author of the report. “King Hamad deserves all the death sentences without delay. And the government deserves to reinstate the de facto moratorium on executions.
One case involves Zuhair Ebrahim Jasim Abdullah, who was arrested by police for his alleged involvement in the killing of a police officer. He claimed interrogators stripped him of all his clothes in a failed attempt to rape him and then threatened to rape him. his wife. He also alleged that officials gave him electric shocks to his chest and genitals. Eventually, Abdullah falsely confessed.
In April 2018, Abdullah filed a complaint of torture with the Ministry of Interior’s Ombudsman’s Office and the Special Investigations Unit. Abdullah argued at his trial that coercion had invalidated his confession and that the case was suspended pending the final results of the investigation. The court rejected this request and rejected the allegations of torture, writing in its verdict that it was “confident of the validity and seriousness of [the] investigations. “. “
Abdullah again raised his charge of coercion on appeal. Instead of ordering an investigation of the allegations, the Court of Appeal summarily concluded that the “verdict warranted a justified and adequate response” to those arguments. The Court of Appeal further concluded that it had been appropriate not to adjourn the case because Abdullah’s court cases were “still under investigation”, the very explanation for why the case was discontinued. The Court of Cassation upheld the conviction and sentence in June 2020.
Abdullah’s case, as well as others reviewed, illustrate how Bahrain’s courts have violated their obligations under foreign law and Bahrain’s to investigate abuses and respect basic rights to a fair trial. In some cases, prosecutors gave the impression of being complicit in such violations.
The systematic nature of allegations of serious abuses by defendants is highlighted by similarities between the cases, Human Rights Watch and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy said. Most of the torture and ill-treatment allegedly took place in the same two locations: the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Ministry of Interior and the Royal Police Academy, next to Bahrain’s Jau prison. There are also similarities in the torture and ill-treatment strategies described by the 8 defendants.
In addition, 3 of the 26 death row inmates were convicted of drug-related offences, despite Bahrain stating that it “applies [death sentences] only as punishment for incredibly serious crimes, such as premeditated murder”.
King Hamad deserves all death sentences to be final, starting with those convicted on the basis of allegedly extracted confessions and those sentenced to death for crimes other than the most serious crimes, Human Rights Watch and Bahrain’s Institute for Rights and Democracy said. Bahrain deserves to officially reinstate the de facto moratorium on judicial executions and to take steps to officially end the use of the death penalty in all circumstances. judicial officials.
The governments of the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Union and its member states, urge Bahrain, through public and diplomatic channels, to halt all executions and seriously investigate allegations of torture and violations of the right to a fair trial. .
“The findings of this report have devastating implications for Bahrain’s death row inmates,” said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy at Bahrain’s Institute for Rights and Democracy. “Bahrain’s allies, especially the U. S. , those who suffer before it’s too late. “