ADHRB Weekly Newsletter #361
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** Bahrain
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** Petition urging the Bahraini Government to Stop Executing Dissidents
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Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain, in cooperation with the International Peace Bureau, has created a petition on the death penalty in Bahrain. The petition aims to urge the Bahraini King, Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, to commute or pardon the death sentences of the twelve individuals who are at imminent risk of execution. Please click on this link ([link removed]) to sign the petition.

Bahrain has ended a 7-year-long de facto moratorium on the use of the death penalty in 2017 when three individuals were executed by a firing squad. Since then, six people have been executed in cases of a political nature. As of now, there are twelve individuals at imminent risk of execution, having exhausted all their legal remedies. The death sentences involve several common traits that violate international human rights standards. The death penalty sentences usually are enacted against dissidents in Bahrain, additionally, they involve confessions coerced via torture and lastly, they are all ordered following unfair trials. The fate of these individuals is in the hands of the Bahraini King, who is responsible for giving his signature as symbolic ratification to carry out executions. Based on past experiences, the Bahraini authorities have carried out executions on dates of Western holidays, such as Christmas, New Years’ eve, or Summer holidays. Therefore, we must now push for international
pressure on the King of Bahrain and stop the execution of these persons.
Read the full article here. ([link removed])

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** Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Coveney TD Addresses TD’s Concerns regarding the Threat of Imminent Execution of Mohamed Ramadhan and Hussain Moosa
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Members of the Dáil Éireann engaged in a set of Parliamentary Questions, posing oral questions to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Coveney (Fine Gael – Cork South-Central). Over the course of these questions, several TDs challenged the Foreign Minister on the human rights situation in Bahrain, and specifically on the cases of Bahrainis at imminent risk of execution including Husain Moosa ([link removed]) and Mohammed Ramadhan ([link removed]) .

On July 13 2020, Bahrain’s Court of Cassation reinstated the death sentence against Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa. They now face imminent execution as a result of a trial internationally recognized as unfair. Both men were arrested in February of 2014. Both were threatened and beaten by law officers during interrogation. When Mr. Moosa was tortured until he signed a pre-prepared confession, that confession was used to charge both men with planting a bomb that killed a police officer. They were sentenced to death without physical evidence linking them to the crime or access to legal representation. Mr. Ramadhan states that his interrogators told him they knew he was innocent of any crime, but that he was a traitor so they were waiting until they found a crime to charge him with.


** Read the full article here. ([link removed])
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** Profile in Persecution
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** Salman Ali Saleh
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Salman Ali Saleh was 24 years old when Bahraini authorities arrested him in November 2015. Salman was tortured after he was arrested for alleged possession of explosive materials and collaboration with a terrorist cell. He was also accused of cooperating with wanted persons abroad, though his passport had expired four years prior to his arrest. Salman is currently serving a sentence of 25 years at Jau Central prison.

On 15 May 2018, Bahrain’s Fourth High Criminal Court pronounced Salman guilty in a mass trial involving 138 defendants accused of joining a terrorist cell called the “Zulfiqar Brigades”. The court convicted 115 defendants, including Salman, on terror-related charges. On 9 June 2020, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) published an opinion for the immediate release of Salman and 19 other Bahraini citizens that ADHRB represented in its complaint to the UN.

Read the full report here. ([link removed])


** Around the Gulf
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** WTO Urged To Reject Saudi Arabia’s Nominee For Director General
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In a letter released today, 19 organizations across the United States and Europe are urging World Trade Organization member states to reject Saudi Arabia’s nominee for the position of WTO Director General.

Saudi Arabia’s nominee Mohammed al-Tuwaijri is a minister-ranked advisor to the Saudi Royal Court and a board member of the government’s controversial sovereign wealth fund. Al-Tuwaijri formerly served as Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Economy during one of the worst government crackdowns against human rights defenders and peaceful dissidents in Saudi Arabia’s recent history.

Read the full article here. ([link removed])
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** GCC in the Wire
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** - Ex-Spanish king confirmed to be in UAE amid financial probes (AP) ([link removed])
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Former monarch Juan Carlos I of Spain has been in the United Arab Emirates since he left his country amid a growing financial scandal, the Spanish royal household said Monday, resolving a two-week mystery and reining in speculation over the ex-king’s whereabouts.


** - Foreign residents still need permission to return to Dubai (Reuters) ([link removed])
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Dubai still requires foreign residents who are overseas to obtain permission before returning, the emirate said on Tuesday.


- Imprisoned Iranian human rights lawyer begins hunger strike (AP) ([link removed])

A prominent Iranian human rights lawyer has begun a hunger strike seeking better prison conditions and the release of political prisoners amid the pandemic, her husband said Thursday.


- Watchdog Says State Dept. Failed to Limit Civilian Deaths From Saudi Arms Sales (New York Times) ([link removed])

The State Department inspector general issued a report on Tuesday criticizing the agency as failing to take proper measures to reduce civilian deaths from American-made bombs used by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the catastrophic Yemen war.



- The Immoral Double Life of the Former King of Spain (New York Times) ([link removed])

An outdated culture allowed King Juan Carlos I to become a lobbyist for Arab dictatorships and to hide his fortune for decades.

- Saudi Jazan civil defence says Yemen's Houthis fired projectile at border village: state TV (Reuters) ([link removed])

Saudi Arabia’s Jazan civil defence said on Monday that a military projectile was fired by Yemen’s Houthi group at a border village, causing no casualties or injuries, Saudi state TV said on twitter.

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Are you a victim of a human rights abuse in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, or other GCC states?

Document your case with the Special Procedures of the United Nations through
** ADHRB's UN Complaint Program ([link removed])
.

Copyright © 2017 ADHRB, All rights reserved.
Contact us at: ** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])

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Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain . 1001 Connecticut Avenue NW . Suite 205 . Washington, DC 20036 . USA

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