Published: 13/12/2006 12:00 AM (UAE)
Abolish death penalty, urges Bahrain rights activist
By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Manama: A human rights activist has urged the Bahrain government to take concrete and immediate steps towards the abolishment of death penalty as part of the reform process.
“The death penalty violates the fundamental human right to life, and we condemn its use,” vice president of the dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BHRC) Nabeel Rajab said.
“At a time when our country is supposed to be developing into a strong democracy, where human rights and human dignity are upheld and protected, the death penalty is leaving a black mark on its record,” Rajab said in a press statement.
Published: 13/12/2006 12:00 AM (UAE)
Abolish death penalty, urges Bahrain rights activist
By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Manama: A human rights activist has urged the Bahrain government to take concrete and immediate steps towards the abolishment of death penalty as part of the reform process.
“The death penalty violates the fundamental human right to life, and we condemn its use,” vice president of the dissolved Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BHRC) Nabeel Rajab said.
“At a time when our country is supposed to be developing into a strong democracy, where human rights and human dignity are upheld and protected, the death penalty is leaving a black mark on its record,” Rajab said in a press statement.
Three executed
The activist made the declaration hours after Bahrain executed two Bangladeshis and a Pakistani, who were convicted of killing two Bahrainis in separate murders.
The executions by firing squad were the first to be carried in Bahrain in more than 10 years and the second in about 30 years.
Relatives of the murdered Bahrainis hailed the capital punishment as a fair and just action for the heinous killings.
But the BCHR said it was “extremely dismayed at the news that two men and a woman were executed by a firing squad”, expressing concern that “the use of such an irreversible measure is extremely dangerous and worrying”.
Subject to errors
According to Rajab, “every judicial system is subject to procedural and human errors, which means there is no way to ensure that innocent people will not be killed.”
He said “prisons should be institutions to rehabilitate individuals so they can contribute positively to society, and not to punish those who have been sentenced.”
