39 French Parliamentarians wrote to the Government of Bahrain on 23 July 2020, calling on him to commute the death sentences passed against Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa. This letter, drafted by Député Jacques Maire, joins calls issued by their American, British, Italian, and European colleagues, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) to halt the execution orders against Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa, and to allow them a new trial that adheres to international standards and norms around due process rights.
Click HERE to read the letter in French
Click HERE to read the letter in English
The letter focuses on the 13 July 2020 decision of the Court of Cassation which upheld the death sentence against Mohammed Ramadhan and Hussain Moosa. Security forces arrested Moosa, 33, on 21 February 2014, and Ramadhan, 37, on 18 February 2014, on charges of attacking police with terrorist purpose. Their arrests followed a bombing in the village of Al-Dair that resulted in the death of a Bahraini policeman. Both Ramadhan and Moosa were convicted and sentenced to death on December 29, 2014, with their sentences being upheld 13 July 2020. Both men allege that they were subjected to torture and have been the subjects of intense international attention.
The French Parliamentarians recalled the communications made by the European Parliament which expressed concern about violations of the Istanbul Protocol in the present case, and highlighted that Mr. Ramadhan and Mr. Moosa were subjected to torture in the coercion of confessions for the participation in the above-mentioned bombing.
The letter adds to the growing international pressure on the Kingdom to halt the use of torture in the judicial and penal systems, and is complemented by a joint letter to the king issued by 16 international and Bahraini rights groups, including Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB), the Bahraini Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) and Human Rights Watch. It is hoped that the combination of these letters will increase pressure on the Bahraini king to use his executive power to pardon the twelve political prisoners who remain at imminent risk of execution.