Despite pressure from the UN and the international community, the death penalty continues to be part of the Bahraini legal system. Crimes that warrant the death penalty include treason, terrorism, apostasy and drug trafficking. Particularly the absence of a precise definition of terrorism has allowed the Bahraini government to exploit its legal system so as to criminalise acts of opposition, free expression and assembly. The death penalty is conducted via firing squads.

Not only does the death penalty itself stand in conflict with the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights, but those sentenced to death regularly report instances of undue process, torture and violations of personal and human rights.

From 2010-2017, the number of issued death sentences rose by 20 %, as Amnesty International reports, in a dramatic deterioration of human rights. As of March 2017, 2 death row inmates, Mohammed Ramadan and Hussain Moosa, await imminent execution, irrespective of allegations of torture. This comes after 3 torture victims were executed in January of the same year.