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Bahrain – Public Appeal: United Nations’ General Assembly’s December 2022 resolution on the death penalty

Posted on by Salam Media
07
Dec

Bahrain – Public Appeal:

United Nations’ General Assembly’s December 2022 resolution on the death penalty

December 6 2022 

 

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Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort, Salam for Democracy and Human Rights, The Advocates for Human Rights and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty issued a public appeal to the Government of Bahrain to vote in favor of the United Nations’ General Assembly’s Resolution for a universal moratorium on the death penalty next week. 

The plenary session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA)  is due to consider next week a draft resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty. If adopted, it will become the nineth resolution from this body calling on UN members states to establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty. 

There are at least 27 individuals on death row in Bahrain, nearly all of whom are at risk of imminent execution, pending only His Excellency, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s ratification. Human rights groups and bodies allege that unfair trials, as well as those in which torture and coercion took place, have resulted in the wrongful imposition of the death penalty in at least eight instances. 

While scores of legal provisions provide for the death penalty in Bahrain, it would be in the best interest of Bahrain to now show leadership and vote in favour of the Resolution.  

On the eight occasions since 2007 when the UNGA has debated and voted to suspend the implementation of the death penalty, in half of them the GoB has abstained (2008, 2010, 2014, 2016). For seven years, between 2011-2017, the GoB maintained a de facto moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty. Over the past three years, no executions have taken place. A vote in favour of the resolution would be consistent with the situation in Bahrain, while an abstention is the very least the government should do.

As civil society organizations, we call on the Government of Bahrain to vote for the resolution on a moratorium on the use of the death penalty in mid-December 2022 at the UNGA.

 

  • Bahrain Centre for Human Rights 
  • Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort
  • Salam for Democracy and Human Rights 
  • The Advocates for Human Rights 
  • World Coalition Against the Death Penalty