Why Bahrain Executed Two Shiites On Terror Charges
Bahrain executed two Shiite citizens by firing squad Saturday on terror charges, officials said, despite appeals for clemency from international human rights groups. The prosecutor announced the first such executions in the Gulf kingdom for more than two years but did not identify the pair.
The two — named by rights groups as Ali al-Arab, 25, and Ahmad al-Malali, 24 — were both Shiites, judicial sources said, without confirming the names. The convicts were put to death along with a third death row prisoner found guilty of murder. Defection: Court sacks Sen. Ogbuoji, orders fresh poll in Ebonyi south(Opens in a new browser tab) Their families had been called to the prison on Friday for a final visit, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
The small Gulf state, a key US ally located between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, has been gripped by bouts of unrest since 2011 when authorities cracked down on Shiite-led protests demanding political reform. The two Shiites executed Friday were arrested separately in February 2017 and sentenced to death in January last year after a mass trial with 58 other defendants that was marred by allegations of torture. The pair were convicted of “forming a terror group” which went on to carry out a series of armed attacks in the kingdom.
They included the storming of the kingdom’s Jaw prison in January 2017 that killed a guard and led to the escape of 10 detainees, the prosecutor said. That attack was followed by two separate fatal attacks on police officers later the same month, the prosecutor added. In an 11th hour appeal for clemency, HRW’s acting Middle East director Lama Fakih warned that King Hamad was committing a “grave injustice by ratifying the death sentences of the two men despite the allegations of torture and other serious due process concerns”.
On the eve of the executions, Amnesty International’s Middle East research director Lynn Maalouf said: “If the Bahraini authorities go through with these executions it would be an utterly shameful show of contempt for human rights.” Vanguard Amnesty said the two men had been subjected in custody to electric shocks and beatings, while Arab had also had his toenails ripped out. In a similar case, three Shiites convicted of a bomb attack that killed three policemen were executed in January 2017.
Bahrain denies discrimination – Ruled for more than two centuries by the Sunni Al-Khalifa dynasty, Bahrain is mostly Shiite Muslim, according to unofficial estimates contested by the government. Hundreds of protesters have been jailed since 2011, with Bahrain claiming Iran trained and backed demonstrators in order to topple the Manama government — an accusation Tehran denies.
All opposition groups have since been banned and disbanded, while hundreds of protesters have been jailed and almost 1,000 Bahrainis have had their citizenship revoked, according to rights groups. In its defence, Bahrain has repeatedly denied taking discriminatory measures against its Shiite citizens. Amid mounting criticism, King Hamad in April ordered the citizenship of 551 Bahrainis is reinstated. Two months later, an appeals court overturned a decision to strip the citizenship of 92 Shiites jailed for plotting to form a “terror” group.
