Document - Bahrain: Death penalty/fear of imminent execution

BAHRAIN Bahrain: Death penalty/fear of imminent execution

PUBLIC AI Index: MDE 11/005/2006
24 November 2006

UA 318/06 Death penalty/fear of imminent execution

BAHRAIN Mohammad Hanif Atta Mohammad (m), aged 37, Pakistani national
Jasmine Anwar Hussain (f), aged 23, Bangladeshi national
Mohammad Hilaluddin (m), aged 33, Bangladeshi national

The three people named above had their death sentences ratified by the king on 21 November, and are at risk of imminent execution.

According to Bahraini media, Mohammad Hanif Atta Mohammad was found guilty of the August 2003 murder of Bahraini national Ibrahim al-Asmawi. He had apparently beaten al-Asmawi unconscious, doused him and his home with fuel and set it ablaze. Ibrahim al-Asmawi’s wife was said to have been implicated in the murder and received a 25-year prison sentence. The two were sentenced by the High Criminal Court and upheld on appeal by the Cassation Court.

In a separate case, Bangladeshi domestic worker Jasmine Anwar Hussain, and Mohammad Hilaluddin, were sentenced to death for the murder in Buhair, near the capital, al-Manama, in November 2004, of Bahraini national Latifa ‘Abdullah ‘Abdul ‘Aziz, reportedly in an attempt to steal gold from her house. Their death sentence was upheld on appeal in December 2005.

Amnesty International does not have details of the trials in either case.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The death penalty is rarely used in Bahrain. Since 1977 only one execution has been carried out. Issa Ahmad Qambar, a Bahraini national, was executed by firing squad in March 1996. He had been found guilty of the premeditated murder of a police officer.

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in English or your own language:
- expressing concern that the death sentences of Mohammad Hanif Atta Mohammad, Jasmine Anwar Hussain and Mohammad Hilaluddin have been ratified by the King and that all three are at risk of imminent execution;
- expressing sympathy with the victims of crime and their relatives but reminding the authorities that the death penalty is brutalising to all concerned;
- urging the King to commute the death sentences.

APPEALS TO:

The King
His Majesty Shaikh Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa
King of Bahrain
Office of His Majesty the King
P. O. Box 555
Rifaa Palace, Kingdom of Bahrain
Faxes: + 973 1766 4587
Salutation: Your Majesty

COPIES TO: diplomatic representatives of Bahrain accredited to your country.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS IMMEDIATELY. Check with the International Secretariat, or your section office, if sending appeals after 5 January 2007.********



Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street, WC1X 0DW, London, United Kingdom

View the overview page for this document