MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Bahrain: the case of Mohammed Ramadan
2.2.2016 - (2016/2557(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure
Cristian Dan Preda, Tomáš Zdechovský, Davor Ivo Stier, Andrej Plenković, David McAllister, Patricija Šulin, Lorenzo Cesa, Andrey Kovatchev, Milan Zver, Lara Comi, Tunne Kelam, Bogdan Brunon Wenta, Eva Paunova, Giovanni La Via, Ildikó Gáll-Pelcz, Marijana Petir, Ivan Štefanec, József Nagy, Sven Schulze, Pavel Svoboda, László Tőkés, Agnieszka Kozłowska-Rajewicz, Stanislav Polčák, Ivana Maletić, Csaba Sógor, Adam Szejnfeld, Dubravka Šuica, Romana Tomc, Ramón Luis Valcárcel Siso, Therese Comodini Cachia, Joachim Zeller, Elisabetta Gardini, Roberta Metsola on behalf of the PPE Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-0174/2016
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, and in particular article 18 thereto,
– having regard to the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, the Convention on the Rights of Child and the Arab Charter on Human Rights, to all of which Bahrain is a party,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Bahrain, and in particular those of 17 January 2013, 12 September 2013, 06 February 2014 and 09 July 2015
– having regard to the statements made by the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) on Bahrain,
– having regard to the visit of Stavros Lambrinidis, EU Special Representative for Human Rights, to Bahrain in the end of May 2015
– having regard to the decision of the Arab League's Ministerial Council, meeting in Cairo on 1 September 2013, to set up a pan-Arab court of human rights in Bahrain's capital Manama,
– having regard to the Arab Peninsula delegation visit to Bahrain from 29 April-1 May 2013 and its press statement,
– having regard to Rule 135 of its Rules of Procedure,
A. Whereas Mohammed Ramadan was arrested by Bahraini security forces on 20 March 2014, reportedly without a warrant, for his alleged involvement in a bomb explosion in al-Dair in February 2014; and whereas Mohammed Ramadan alleges that security officers tortured him and violently beat him during his initial detention, after which he agreed into confessing to the crime,
B. Whereas on 29 December 2014, a Bahraini criminal court sentenced Mohammed Ramadan to death and whereas the defendant stated that the court relied substantially upon his confessions extracted under torture and without due investigations from the prosecutor office,
C. Whereas his sentence was upheld by the Court of Cassation on 16 November 2015 despite having recanted his confessions and reiterating that he confessed under torture,
D. Whereas Mohammed Ramadan is one of nine individuals on death row in Bahrain and is the first to be sentenced to death since 2011,
E. Whereas Bahrain is a State party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which guarantees that fair trial standards should be applied including an absolute prohibition against torture,
F. whereas, following the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) report, the Bahraini authorities committed themselves to undergoing reforms; whereas progress has been made in overhauling the legal and law enforcement systems,
G. whereas Bahrain hosts the permanent headquarters of the Arab Human Rights Court following its approval at an Arab League meeting in Cairo,
H. Whereas the Interior Ministry Ombudsman and the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR), Bahrain's main rights watchdog, were awarded the prestigious 2014 Chaillot Prize for the Promotion of Human Rights in the GCC region;
1.Condemns firmly the practice of capital punishment in Bahrain and calls the Government of Bahrain to commute any and all death sentences issued by its courts;
2.Reiterates its call for Bahrain to immediately ratify and implement international treaties banning the use of capital punishment and to re-impose a moratorium on the death penalty with a view towards abolishing the practice;
3.Condemns firmly any form of torture or corporal punishment as an unacceptable and degrading treatment contrary to human dignity and voices deep concerns about use of confessions obtained through torture in court trials;
4.Expresses its serious concern with Bahrain’s regression towards the practice of capital punishment, and further stress its concerns over reports that individuals on death row have been denied basic rights to a fair trial, and have been reportedly subjected to severe torture during their detention and interrogation;
5.Calls on Bahrain authorities to amid to their commitments to reform their justice system since 2011;
6.Calls on Bahrain to immediately investigate all allegations of torture made by persons sentenced to death, and to dismiss any and all convictions made on the basis of confessions obtained under conditions of torture;
7.Recognises the efforts that have been undertaken by the Bahraini authorities in implementing the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) from 2011 and of the UN Universal Periodic Review of Bahrain (UPR ) as well as other UN mechanisms' recommendations and the recent release of a number of prisoners charged with crimes related to their political association and expression.; calls for the implementation of BICI recommendations and for human rights and fundamental freedoms to be fully respected and properly monitored;
8.Notes the Bahraini Government's continuous efforts to reform the penal code and legal procedures with a view to abolishing the death penalty, and encourages this process to be duly pursued; calls on the Government of Bahrain to take all necessary steps to ensure the rights of the defendants, their right to fair trial, to guarantee due process, and the independence and impartiality of the judiciary in, and to ensure that it acts in full accordance with international human rights standards;
9.Takes note of the recommendations made by the Ombudsman, the Prisoners’ and Detainees’ Rights Commission (PDRC ) and the National Institution for Human Rights (NIHR), in particular on the rights of detainees and their conditions in prisons, including regarding alleged ill-treatment and torture; Encourages those bodies to pursue their work in an independent, impartial and transparent manner and calls on the Bahraini authorities to fully implement these recommendations;
10.Strongly encourages the establishment of a EU-Bahrain human rights working group;
11.Stresses the importance of pursuing cooperation support given to Bahrain in particular for its judicial system and to reshape this support to reach international human rights standards;
12.Instructs its president to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the government and parliaments of the Member States, and the Government and Parliament of the Kingdom of Bahrain.