VP/HR — Bahrain: six men sentenced to death by military court

9.1.2018

Question for written answer E-000064-18
to the Commission (Vice-President/High Representative)
Rule 130
Stelios Kouloglou (GUE/NGL)

In 2017, Bahrain sentenced 14 people to death, all for charges related to political unrest. 19 Bahraini nationals and three migrants are currently on death row.

In January 2017, the authorities executed three torture victims following an unfair trial. They were the first people executed in Bahrain since 2010.

In April, the King ratified a constitutional amendment granting military courts the right to try civilians, including any peaceful activists deemed a threat to national security. Military courts last operated in Bahrain in 2011, and a report by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) concluded that they systematically violated the fundamental principles of a fair trial.

On 25 December 2017, Bahrain’s military court sentenced six men (including Sayed Alawi, a victim of enforced disappearance) to death, 15 years in prison and revoked their nationality on charges of forming a terrorist cell and attempting to assassinate a military official.

1. Will the EU urge Bahrain to stop sentencing people to death and to establish an immediate moratorium on executions as a step towards the full abolition of the death penalty?

2. What action has the EU taken to ensure that Bahraini civilians are not tried in military courts?