Capital Punishment In Bahrain: A Controversial Practice

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned killing of an individual as punishment for a crime. While many countries have discontinued the practice, it remains a part of the Bahraini legal system. In this context, the death penalty is carried out by firing squad for crimes such as treason, terrorism, apostasy, and drug trafficking.

Bahrain's use of capital punishment has been a subject of controversy, with allegations of torture and unfair trials. Human rights organisations have documented cases where defendants were convicted and sentenced to death based on confessions allegedly obtained through torture and ill-treatment. These issues have led to international condemnation and calls for Bahrain to suspend the death penalty.

Despite pressure from the international community, including the United Nations, Bahrain has continued to carry out executions. As of 2024, Bahrain is one of the countries that maintain the death penalty in law and practice.

Bahrain's use of capital punishment in spite of international pressure

Bahrain's use of capital punishment persists despite international pressure and condemnation from human rights groups. In January 2017, Bahrain ended a seven-year moratorium on the death penalty and resumed executions, with three men put to death by firing squad. This marked a concerning shift and attracted criticism from the international community.

Bahrain's legal system allows for capital punishment in cases of serious crimes, including treason, terrorism, apostasy, and drug trafficking. However, the vague definition of terrorism has allowed the government to exploit the law to criminalise acts of opposition, free expression, and assembly. This ambiguity has led to concerns that the death penalty is being used as a tool to suppress dissent.

International organisations, including the United Nations (UN) and Human Rights Watch, have strongly opposed Bahrain's use of capital punishment, particularly in light of allegations of torture, unfair trials, and due process violations. Human Rights Watch, for instance, has called on Bahrain to join the UN General Assembly's resolution for a moratorium on executions, working towards the abolition of the death penalty.

Instances of torture and forced confessions have been reported, with the UN Committee against Torture raising concerns about the effectiveness of Bahrain's oversight bodies. The Bahraini government has denied these allegations, claiming that they lack evidence. However, court records and testimonies from detainees and their families suggest otherwise, indicating a pattern of abuse and forced confessions.

The international community's response to Bahrain's use of capital punishment has been mixed. While the UN and human rights organisations have exerted pressure and criticised Bahrain, other countries, particularly allies like the United States, have been less vocal in their opposition. The US, for example, maintains a strategic naval base in Bahrain and values its alliance in the region, which may influence its reluctance to publicly criticise the country's human rights record.

Despite international pressure, Bahrain has continued to implement the death penalty, with at least 26 individuals on death row as of 2021. This number includes individuals sentenced in political cases, many of whom have reported instances of torture and human rights violations. The final step before the implementation of the death sentence is the ratification by the King, leaving these individuals at imminent risk of execution.

The Bahraini government's accusations of Iran fostering local dissent

Bahrain and Iran have had strained relations since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, with the two countries disagreeing on various geopolitical issues such as the interpretation of Islam, the Awakening of the Islamic world, and relations with the US, Europe, and other Western countries. In addition, Iran has been critical of Bahrain for hosting the US Fifth Fleet within the Persian Gulf.

In 2011, Bahrain accused Iran of inciting upheaval in the country and questioned the legitimacy of the protesters' demands. Iran, on the other hand, expressed strong support for the demonstrators, who mostly followed Shia Islam, which is Iran's state religion. This led to a cooling of relations between the two countries, with both expelling each other's ambassadors. Bahrain also cracked down on its Shia population, putting thousands in jail, further souring relations with Iran.

In 2015, Bahrain summoned the Iranian acting chargé d'affaires over "flagrant interference" after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei voiced support for the oppressed people of Bahrain. This was followed by Bahrain recalling its ambassador from Tehran and ordering the Iranian acting chargé d'affaires to leave the country in response to "continuing interference by Iran in the kingdom's affairs." Bahrain often alleges that Iran is responsible for the protests among its Shia population.

In 2016, Bahrain severed diplomatic ties with Iran, accusing it of interfering in Saudi internal affairs after Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shia cleric. However, in 2024, Bahrain restored diplomatic relations with Iran.

Despite the tensions, Iran and Bahrain have engaged in joint economic ventures, and Iran had offered to sign a security pact with Gulf Arab leaders in 2007. Additionally, influential Iranians have made inflammatory statements that have exacerbated the mistrust between the two countries. For example, in 2009, a former speaker of the Majlis declared that Bahrain had been "the fourteenth province of Iran until 1970."

In conclusion, the Bahraini government's accusations of Iran fostering local dissent have led to a complex and strained relationship between the two countries, with periods of improved relations followed by setbacks. While Iran has denied interfering in Bahrain's internal affairs, the issue remains a source of tension and has impacted their diplomatic relations.

The Bahraini government's use of torture to gain confessions

The Bahraini government has been accused of using torture to gain confessions from detainees, which are then used against them in trials. This is despite the fact that Bahrain is a party to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and that torture is prohibited by Bahraini law.

Torture was a routine practice in Bahrain between 1975 and 1999, during the period when the State Security Act 1974 was in force. After 1999, reports of torture became less frequent, although serious abuse by security forces during arrests continued. However, reports of the use of torture increased again after 2007, coinciding with rising political tension and street demonstrations.

In 2010, Human Rights Watch (HRW) found that government officials appeared to be using a "repertoire" of techniques to cause pain and elicit confessions from security suspects. These included:

• The use of electro-shock devices
• Suspension in painful positions
• Beating the soles of the feet (falaka)
• Beatings of the head, torso, and limbs
• Threats to kill detainees or rape them or their family members

During the Bahraini uprising, torture was described in many human rights reports as being widespread and systematic. 64% of detainees (1866 individuals) reported being tortured, and at least five individuals died as a result. Three men who were executed in 2017—Abbas AlSameea, Sami Mushaima, and Ali Alsingace—were also tortured to gain confessions.

In 2019, HRW documented the cases of eight men who were sentenced to death based on confessions that were allegedly obtained through torture and ill-treatment. In these cases, the courts failed to address meaningfully, if at all, claims that the defendants had been subjected to torture and their confessions coerced.

One of these cases involved Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa, who were arrested in February 2014 and charged with attacking police "with terrorist purpose," resulting in the death of a policeman. Moosa confessed and also implicated Ramadhan, later telling a UK-based rights group that:

> They were kicking me on my reproductive organs... repeatedly in the same place until I couldn’t speak from the pain.

Ramadhan told the same group that:

> The torture, beating and insults wouldn’t stop, even as I was answering their questions… and when I told them about my back pain, they lay me on my stomach and hit me on my back….

The two men were not able to meet with their lawyers during the interrogations or before their trial began. The criminal court ruling on their conviction relied on the testimony of numerous police officers and the confessions of Moosa and other defendants in the case. Despite complaints to the Interior Ministry’s Ombudsman unit in July 2014 that Moosa and Ramadhan were tortured, no investigation ensued.

In March 2018, the Ombudsman's office promised a "full, independent investigation" by the public prosecution office’s Special Investigation Unit (SIU). The SIU's report recommended that the court reconsider the verdicts, saying that a medical report by an Interior Ministry doctor that was not made available during the men’s trial and appeal "raise the suspicion that [Moosa] was subjected to assault and mistreatment." The report concluded that:

> There is a suspicion of the crime of torture... which was carried out with the intent of forcing them to confess to committing the crime they were charged with.

Despite this, the appeals court reinstated the death sentences in January 2020, and the men's lives are once again in the hands of the Cassation Court judges.

The Bahraini government's targeting of Shia dissidents

During the 2011 Bahraini uprising, as many as 43 Shia mosques and tens of other religious structures were intentionally destroyed or damaged by the ruling Sunni authorities. The Bahraini Centre for Human Rights classified the destruction as "crimes of genocide under the UN Convention on Genocide (1948)". The Bahraini government claimed that only illegally built mosques had been targeted, but this was disputed by Shia clerics and the opposition group al-Wefaq, who stated that some of the mosques were 20 to 30 years old or older. The US State Department and President Obama expressed concern over the destruction of religious sites, with Obama stating that "Shia must never have their mosques destroyed in Bahrain".

In addition to the destruction of religious sites, the Bahraini government has been accused of targeting Shia dissidents through arbitrary arrests, torture, and forced disappearances. In August 2011, the government arrested prominent dissidents on vague or non-existent charges, and allegations of torture emerged, with defendants displaying wounds in court. In February 2011, security forces killed seven people and wounded hundreds during protests, and martial law was declared with the help of Saudi tanks. Killings, attacks, and arrests continued thereafter.

The Bahraini government has also been criticised for its silencing of Shia clerics and the banning of Friday prayers in the village of Diraz. In August 2015, Shia cleric and former MP Sheikh Hassan Isa was arrested on false charges, and in June 2016, Ayatullah Sheikh Isa Qassim was stripped of his nationality, prompting protests. In May 2017, Bahraini security forces attacked a sit-in outside Qassim's home, resulting in five deaths, dozens of injuries, and hundreds of arrests. Qassim was also placed under house arrest.

The death penalty has also been used as a means of targeting Shia dissidents. In January 2017, Bahrain resumed capital punishment, executing three torture victims. The death penalty is often imposed for crimes of treason, terrorism, apostasy, and drug trafficking. However, the absence of a precise definition of terrorism has allowed the Bahraini government to exploit its legal system to criminalise acts of opposition, free expression, and assembly. As of 2021, there were at least 26 people on death row, 12 of whom were sentenced in political cases. 11 of these 12 allege being tortured to extract confessions.

The Bahraini government's use of firing squads to carry out executions

The death penalty is a part of Bahrain's legal system, and executions are carried out by firing squad. In January 2017, Bahrain ended a seven-year moratorium on capital punishment by executing three men: Abbas AlSameea, Sami Mushaima, and Ali Alsingace. These men were victims of torture and were executed six days after the Court of Cassation upheld their death sentences.

The death penalty in Bahrain is reserved for crimes such as treason, terrorism, apostasy, and drug trafficking. However, the Bahraini government has been accused of exploiting the lack of a precise definition of terrorism to criminalize acts of opposition, free expression, and assembly.

The process of execution by firing squad typically involves several soldiers firing simultaneously at the condemned prisoner's heart to ensure a quick death and prevent disfigurement. The prisoner is usually blindfolded, restrained, and may be standing or sitting.

Bahrain's use of the death penalty has been criticized by international organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as foreign governments like the UK, due to concerns about unfair trials, torture, and violations of human rights. Despite this, as of 2021, there were at least 26 people on death row in Bahrain, 12 of whom were sentenced in political cases involving allegations of torture.

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