On Sunday 15th January, three men were executed by firing squad in Bahrain. Their names were Ali Al-Singace, Abbas Al-Samea and Sami Mushaima.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0UN Special Rapporteur, Dr Agnes Callamard, called their\u00a0executions \u201cextrajudicial killings\u201d. Ali, Abbas and Sami were the first prisoners to be put to death by the Bahraini authorities since 2010.<\/p>\n
These are their stories.<\/p>\n
Ali was just 21 when executed.\u00a0He had been harassed and tortured by Bahrain\u2019s police since he was 15, because of his family\u2019s links to\u00a0political\u00a0opposition.<\/strong><\/p>\n The police wanted Ali to work as an informant. He refused.<\/p>\n When Ali was 18, a bomb exploded killing several policemen.\u00a0Ali was sentenced to death without even appearing before a court\u00a0and then arrested a year later.<\/p>\n He was tortured and electrocuted into making a false confession.\u00a0His torture was never investigated.<\/p>\n The day before his execution, Ali\u2019s family came to visit him in prison. The guards refused to say if he was about to be executed, and Ali asked his family to\u00a0arrange for him to resit school exams he had missed.<\/p>\n Abbas was a school teacher, and was just\u00a027 when executed.\u00a0He\u00a0was targeted because of his family\u2019s links to\u00a0political\u00a0opposition.\u00a0He was sentenced to death despite presenting the court with an alibi letter from the school where he taught.<\/strong><\/p>\n Abbas required hospital treatment after police tortured him during his interrogation, including electric shocks to his genitals and suspending him from the ceiling. He was later\u00a0tortured\u00a0again by guards in prison.<\/p>\n Although UK prison inspectors helped plan inspections of both the police station and prison just months after Abbas was abused there, his\u00a0torture allegations\u00a0were\u00a0ignored.<\/p>\n Another UK-trained torture watchdog in Bahrain dismissed his complaint about ill-treatment without even\u00a0arranging for a doctor to examine him for signs of torture.<\/p>\n The day before his execution, Abbas\u2019 family came to visit him in prison. The guards refused to say if he was about to be executed.<\/p>\nAbbas Al-Samea<\/h2>\n
Sami Mushaima<\/h2>\n