The NHRI Follows the Execution of Three Individuals Convicted with the Murder of Police Officers

Manama, 16 January/ BNA/ The National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR) followed the execution of three individuals convicted with the murder of a police officer and two policemen by an explosive device in March 2014. The NHRI stresses that the final verdict by the Court of Cassation was taken after the exhaustion of all judicial remedies with reasoned judgments in the presence of independent attorneys in accordance with recognized international standards. The NIHR affirms that the Kingdom of Bahrain has not violated any of its international legal obligations by executing the death penalty pursuant to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by law no. 56/2006; the Arab Charter on Human Rights, ratified by law no. 7/2006; relevant international customary law; the GCC Human Rights Declaration, adopted by the GCC Supreme Council in Doha 2014; the Kingdom of Bahrain’s pledges in the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, and, the recommendations of the annual reports of the NIHRsince its establishment. The NIHR commends that law enforcement agencies, embodied in the Ministry of Interior and the Public Prosecution have followed the measures afforded in articles 330, 331 and 332 of the Code of Criminal Procedures, issued by decree law no. 46/2002, which guaranteed that the relatives of the convicted were to meet them on the day of the execution, and that the penalty was to be concluded in an unopened area in the presence of a judge, a representative of the public prosecution, a physician and a religious preacher. The NIHR has furthermore followed the Kingdom of Bahrain’s implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001) with regard to the elimination of terrorism. The NIHR emphasizes that the Government of Bahrain has taken positive measures in the Global War on Terror and welcomes the issuance and implementation of law no. 58/2006 on the Protection of Society against Terrorism Acts and its amendments.