The United Nations on Tuesday said that it was appalled by the execution of three men convicted in a deadly attack on police in Bahrain.
“We are appalled at the execution by firing squad of three men in Bahrain on Sunday,’’ UN human rights commissioner spokesperson, Rupert Colville, said in a statement.
The first executions in the Gulf kingdom since 2010 were carried out early on Sunday in a prison after a top court rejected an appeal filed by the three convicts.
The three men, who are members of Bahrain’s Shiite Muslim majority, were found guilty of involvement in a bomb attack in the village of Sanabis in March 2014 that killed three police officers, including an Emirati officer.
The men had claimed that their confessions were obtained under torture subsequently they were sentenced to death in 2015.
After the execution, clashes erupted between protesters and police in Sanabis and on Monday, witnesses said police fired birdshots at demonstrators, injuring at least two.
“We again urge Bahrain to impose a moratorium on the use of the death penalty,’’ Colville said, adding that Bahrain is encouraged to “abolish the death penalty definitively’’.
Colville added there were “serious doubts whether the accused were provided with the right to fair trial’’.
Home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, Bahrain has seen a rise in violence since 2011, when mass protests led by the country’s Shiites erupted in demands for wider reforms from the ruling Sunni family.
The protests were quelled with the help of regional Sunni powers, including Saudi Arabia. (dpa/NAN)
