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| Bahrain’s highest court upholds death sentences despite evidence of torture | Bahrain’s highest court upholds death sentences despite evidence of torture |
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| BEIRUT — The highest court in the tiny gulf country of Bahrain has upheld two death sentences on Monday, despite internal evidence of torture in extracting the two men's confessions. | BEIRUT — The highest court in the tiny gulf country of Bahrain has upheld two death sentences on Monday, despite internal evidence of torture in extracting the two men's confessions. |
| Husain Moosa, 34, and Mohammed Ramadan, 37, were sentenced to death in 2014 after being charged with targeting police officers with a bomb, killing one of them. Their sentence was overturned following an internal review over allegations the men had been tortured and sexually assaulted. | Husain Moosa, 34, and Mohammed Ramadan, 37, were sentenced to death in 2014 after being charged with targeting police officers with a bomb, killing one of them. Their sentence was overturned following an internal review over allegations the men had been tortured and sexually assaulted. |
| The Court of Cassation on Monday reinstated the death sentence after re-reviewing all the evidence. “The reasons behind its ruling,” said the Public Prosecution in a statement on Monday, “is that the injuries in the medical reports did not coincide and is not in-keeping with police procedures or the Public Prosecutor, and has no effect on the confessions that were borne out of conscious free will, without any force on the defendants.” | The Court of Cassation on Monday reinstated the death sentence after re-reviewing all the evidence. “The reasons behind its ruling,” said the Public Prosecution in a statement on Monday, “is that the injuries in the medical reports did not coincide and is not in-keeping with police procedures or the Public Prosecutor, and has no effect on the confessions that were borne out of conscious free will, without any force on the defendants.” |
| The decision is an abrupt reversal after the same court had earlier overturned the death sentences. | The decision is an abrupt reversal after the same court had earlier overturned the death sentences. |
| “I heard the decision and choked on my words,” Ramadan’s wife Zeinab said. “I am at a loss of what to tell my children who are awaiting their father’s return.” | |
| Following complaints by Zeinab and human rights groups, as well as pressure from the British government, Bahrain’s Special Investigations Unit reviewed the claims and concluded that physical duress might have been used in extracting a confession. The high court then overturned the sentence. | |
| But in January, a lower Bahraini court that reconsidered the case and reinstated the death sentences, saying the convictions were not solely based on the defendants’ statements, and that the abuse occurred after the confession. | |
| Moosa and Ramadan are Shiite Muslims who participated in pro-democracy protests that engulfed Bahrain in 2011 during the Arab Spring demonstrations after facing years of discrimination by the Sunni-controlled government. | Moosa and Ramadan are Shiite Muslims who participated in pro-democracy protests that engulfed Bahrain in 2011 during the Arab Spring demonstrations after facing years of discrimination by the Sunni-controlled government. |
| “To Western partners, Bahrain promises human rights reform: to citizens, it threatens that if you speak out, you will be imprisoned, tortured and convicted of crimes you did not commit,” said Maya Foa, director of Reprieve, a London-based human rights group. “These unlawful death sentences are intended as a warning to would-be dissidents.” | |
| Now, the only remaining hope for Ramadan and Moosa is a royal pardon. | Now, the only remaining hope for Ramadan and Moosa is a royal pardon. |
| “International and Bahraini rights organizations will pen an open letter to the king urging him to correct this grave miscarriage of justice and commute Ramadan and Moosa’s death sentences.”said Aya Majzoub, Human Rights Watch’s Bahrain and Lebanon researcher. | “International and Bahraini rights organizations will pen an open letter to the king urging him to correct this grave miscarriage of justice and commute Ramadan and Moosa’s death sentences.”said Aya Majzoub, Human Rights Watch’s Bahrain and Lebanon researcher. |
| Bahrain found evidence of torture behind confession. But death sentences still stand. | Bahrain found evidence of torture behind confession. But death sentences still stand. |
| Bahrain releases its best-known human rights activist after nearly four years in prison | Bahrain releases its best-known human rights activist after nearly four years in prison |
| Bahrain executes three Shiite men convicted in fatal attack on police officers | Bahrain executes three Shiite men convicted in fatal attack on police officers |