Despite pressure from the UN and the international community, the death penalty continues to be part of the Bahraini legal system.
In January 2017, capital punishment resumed within the Kingdom, with three torture victims, Abbas AlSameea, Sami Mushaima and Ali Alsingace, executed six days after the Court of Cassation upheld their death sentence. Crimes that warrant the death penalty include treason, terrorism, apostasy and drug trafficking. 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.
As of 2021, there are at least 26 on death row, 12 of which have been sentenced in political cases. 11 of the 12 allege being tortured in order to extract a confession that was then used against them at their trial.
All 26 on death row are at imminent risk of execution, having exhausted all domestic remedies. The final step in their case before implementation of the death sentence is the ratification of the sentence by the King.
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 human rights.
24 October 2018 – On Monday 22 October 2018, Bahrain’s Court of Cassation overturned the death sentences of political prisoners Mohammed Ramadan and Husain Moosa,
1 February 2018 – Today, the Fourth High Criminal Court in Bahrain concluded the trial of 32 defendants. The court issued a death sentence against
Today, the Fourth High Criminal Court in Bahrain has issued sentences to 60 dissidents, who have been accused of forming part of a “terrorist cell”
Maher al-Khabbaz Faces Imminent Execution after Bahraini Court of Cassation Upheld his Death Sentence 30 January 2018 – Yesterday, the Bahraini Court of Cassation
10 October 2017 – The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) condemns the rise in the use of executions in the Gulf, four decades
8 June 2016 – Bahraini courts sentenced two victims of torture to death on Tuesday amid serious concerns that the judiciary failed to uphold basic
10 May 2017 – Bahrain’s High Appeals Court today upheld the death sentence against Maher Abbas Al-Khabbaz. Maher Khabbaz was convicted of premeditated murder of
8 March 2017 – In his report to the 34th session of the UN Human Rights Council today, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,
16 February 2017 – The European Parliament has voted through a Resolution on Executions in Kuwait and Bahrain condemning the recent executions in these countries.
20 January 2017 – We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the position of the Bahrain National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) which, in a statement released
