Bahrain upholds death sentences despite torture claims
Pro-democracy activists Mohammed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa face imminent execution.
Bahrain’s top court has upheld the death sentence for two activists convicted of killing a police officer despite an outcry from human rights organizations who say false confessions were obtained through torture.
Mohammed Ramadhan, a security guard at Bahrain's international airport, and Husain Moosa, a hotel worker, were arrested in 2014 in connection to a bombing that killed a police officer in a village near the kingdom’s capital, Manama. The two men were each sentenced to death for terrorism.
Rights groups say they were beaten, electrocuted and subjected to other kinds of torture after refusing to confess and that their trials did not comply with international fairness standards. Moosa, who said he was abused until he admitted guilt and incriminated Ramadhan, later recanted his confession.
Their sentences were held up in 2018 after a special investigation unit in the public prosecutor’s office put forward medical reports that showed the two men had been tortured. But following a review of their cases, an appeals court reinstated thee sentences in January 2020. Bahrain’s top court upheld the convictions on Monday, leaving Moosa and Ramadhan with no other legal remedies.
