Bahraini courts have conducted “sham trials” and relied on confessions extracted through torture to hand death sentences to civilians accused of petty crimes, rights organisations Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Bahrain Institute of Rights and Democracy (BIRD) reported on Monday.
“In these cases, courts repeatedly failed to observe the requirements of international and Bahraini law that courts ensure any allegations of torture or ill-treatment are impartially investigated,” the report said. It noted that Bahrain has not respected the rights of the accused to a fair trial, saying that undertrials have been denied the right to counsel and confront government witnesses.
The rights groups revealed that the Bahraini government had ‘clearly’ “failed to respect the presumption of innocence” in at least six cases. The document also stated that courts had convicted eight people in these cases, among 26 currently on death row in Bahrain. “They have exhausted all avenues of appeal. They can be executed once the king [Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa] ratifies their sentences,” the report said.
Furthermore, it noted that in all the cases “the prosecution and the courts failed to genuinely investigate” allegations of torture. “In some cases, prosecutors appeared to be complicit in these abuses,” it said. “Bahraini courts violated their obligations under international and Bahraini law to investigate such abuses and respect fundamental fair trial rights,” it went on to add.
In this respect, HRW and BIRD urged the Bahraini King to commute the death sentences of all individuals, issue a decree prohibiting all forms of torture, work towards abolishing the death penalty, and appoint an independent commission to investigate allegations of torture.
Bahrain has been sentencing men to death following manifestly unfair trials, based solely or primarily on confessions allegedly coerced through torture and ill-treatment. That's not a justice system but a horrifying system of injustice. https://t.co/Tt2wa0ZHea pic.twitter.com/0FzwWUGdXH
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) October 10, 2022
It also called on Bahraini authorities to “extend a standing invitation” to UN Human Rights Council investigators. The report further asked the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom to exert more pressure on Bahrain. It also recommended that the US “restrict arms sales and security cooperation until Bahrain enacts and complies with the recommendations in this report.”
In a separate statement, Michael Page, HRW’s deputy Middle East director, said, “Bahraini officials routinely proclaim that the government respects fundamental human rights, but in case after case, courts relied on coerced confessions despite defendants’ credible claims of torture and ill-treatment.” He said this reflected a “pattern of injustice” in Bahrain.
“The findings in this report have devastating implications for death row inmates in Bahrain,” Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, advocacy director at BIRD, said. “Bahrain’s allies in particular the US and UK should take decisive steps to stand with these victims before it is too late,” he said.
Bahrain has stepped up the use of the death penalty and torture over the past decade. BIRD stated in a 2021 report that the use of the death penalty in Bahrain since the 2011 ‘Arab Spring’ protests has increased by over 600%. BIRD found that since 2011, Bahrain handed capital punishment to 51 people compared to just seven before 2011.