Amnesty: Two men facing execution lose last court appeal despite torture-extracted ‘confessions’

Today, the last-ditch efforts for some modicum of justice in Bahrain were crushed when the Court of Cassation reaffirmed the death sentences of Mohamed Ramadhan and Hussain Moosa, despite evidence that the men were tortured during their interrogation.

The two men were convicted of killing a policeman in 2014 following a grossly unfair trial. Their 2015 final death sentence verdict was subject to a re-trial following medical records attesting to the men’s torture, which were submitted by the Special Investigate Unit (SIU) tied to the Ministry of Health. The men have now exhausted all rights of appeal in the judiciary system. Responding to today’s verdict, Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East Research Director, said:

“Bahrain’s judiciary has decided to blatantly ignore court evidence of torture in the case of Mohamed Ramadhan and Hussain Moosa, and this, despite the repeated violations of the men’s right to a fair trial since their arrest over six years ago.

“We call on the Bahraini authorities to immediately quash these convictions and death sentences. Instead of condemning to death the victims of this irreparably flawed trial, they must hold to account those responsible for their torture and guarantee that the defendants receive reparations, rehabilitation, and an ironclad guarantee of non-repetition.

“The death penalty is abhorrent in all circumstances and should never be used.”