British security assistance to Bahrain was in the spotlight in the House of Lords today, as a cross-party group of peers asked the government to intervene to save the lives of two Bahraini torture victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mohammed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa\u2019s final appeal hearing at Bahrain\u2019s Court of Cassation is scheduled for Monday, July 13. Absent UK intervention, their death sentences are likely to be upheld, placing them at imminent risk of execution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since 2012, the UK Government has provide at least \u00a35 million of technical assistance to Bahrain, including training the Bahraini Ombudsman and Special Investigations Unit (SIU), two institutions charged with investigating allegations of human rights abuses which failed to properly investigate Ramadhan and Moosa\u2019s torture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ramadhan and Moosa were granted a case review, and their original death sentences overturned, after they made credible claims that they were tortured and forced to sign false confessions. In January 2020, Bahrain\u2019s high court reimposed death sentences against the two men, stating that the SIU investigation had shown that the confessions were not obtained through torture and could be relied upon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An assessment by the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT) concluded that the SIU\u2019s investigation \u201cfails to meet the minimum professional standards and minimum international legal standards to which the Kingdom of Bahrain is subject\u201d and raised additional concerns the SIU is neither independent, nor impartial. The IRCT also found that the 2020 court judgment was \u201ccritically flawed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Peers told the Government it has a duty to intervene in the case, to ensure that justice is done. \u201cBy any objective legal judgement, Mohammed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa have not had due process,\u201d said Baroness Ramsay. \u201cWhy can\u2019t the FCO put its mouth where British money is going and very vigorously obtain for these two men, at least now, a delay of execution and a fair trial?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lord Scriven added: \u201cGiven the failures of the SIU investigation into Mohammed and Husain\u2019s torture identified by the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, will HMG finally accept that its technical assistance to Bahrain has failed to achieve its aims and objective and agree to suspend its provision of technical assistance to Bahrain if these men\u2019s death sentences are upheld?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response, for the Government, Lord Ahmad would not commit to making representations on behalf of the men before the hearing, saying \u201cit is for the Court of Cassation to make the final decision\u201d and after that decision \u201cwe will review whether there is any exemption or clemency that remains an avenue to the King\u201d. He again defended UK technical assistance to Bahrain, saying that it has \u201cyielded positive results\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n