MANAMA, Bahrain, Jan. 15 (UPI) — Bahrain on Sunday executed via firing squad three men found guilty of a bomb attack that killed three police officers in 2014.
Bahrain News Agency, the official media wing for the government, reported Abbas al-Samea, Sami Mushaima and Ali al-Singace were executed in the presence of a judge, public prosecution representatives, the prison’s warden, a physician and a religious leader.
The men were convicted on allegations they planted an explosive device and lured policemen to investigate before detonating, killing officers Tareq Mohammed Al Shehi, Mohammed Raslan and Ammar Abdu Ali Mohammed, as well as injuring 13 other people.
Human rights organizations have criticized the executions due to concerns that key evidence may have been obtained through torture.
“Bahrain executed Abbas al-Samea, Ali al-Singace, Sami Mushaima. Torture, unfair trial + flimsy evidence: these are extrajudicial killings,” the United Nation’s Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial Executions said in a statement.
The Sunday executions are the first carried out in Bahrain since 2011, when anti-government protesters took part in an uprising.
“It is nothing short of an outrage — and a disgraceful breach of international law — that Bahrain has gone ahead with these executions,” Maya Foa, head of the British-based human rights group Reprieve, said in a statement, adding that the death sentences “were based on ‘confessions’ extracted through torture, and the trial an utter sham.”
