UN Appalled at Execution of 3 Bahrainis

The United Nations urged Bahrain "to impose a moratorium on the use of the death penalty and to ratify the second optional protocol of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) that aims to abolish the death penalty definitively."

Hawzah News Agency (NY, The UN) - Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a press conference held on Tuesday, January 17, "We are appalled at the execution by firing squad of three men in Bahrain on Sunday.

"The men had been convicted of a bombing in Manama in 2014 that killed three police officers. They were found guilty after being allegedly tortured into making false confessions and their lawyers were not given access to all the evidence against them nor allowed to cross-examine prosecution witnesses during court hearings ",Rupert Colville added.

"The way the trials were conducted raises serious doubts whether the accused were provided with the right to fair trial, guaranteed by the ICCPR in particular by Articles 9 and 14,"he further stated.

Colville concluded "The executions of Abbas Al-Samea, Ali Al-Singace and Sami Mushaima are the first in Bahrain since 2010," indicating "We understand that on 14 January the men's families were asked to go immediately to the prison but despite making repeated requests for information, they were not told their sons were due to be executed the following day."

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