Bahrain Regime uses delays to postpone release of Prisoners in perpetual unjust detention

Bahrain: Justice Delayed for the 13 Detained Political and Human Rights Figures
14 August, 2012 – Bahrain Center for Human Rights

The higher court of appeal held a session today to issue its verdict in the appeal trial of the 13 political and Human Rights activists, however the verdict has been delayed until the 4 September 2012 for no reason. The activists were originally sentenced in a military court to between five years and life imprisonment and the court of cassation has voided the verdicts on 30 April 2012, however the activists were not released.

Bahrain center for Human Rights believes this appeal trial is not more than a show and a delay of justice that adds up to the violations to the rights of the detained activists as it’s based on the invalid verdicts of the military court at time those verdicts should be called void for the unconstitutionality of the military courts and for being proved to be solely based on coerced confessions taken under severe torture as openly described in the report by the independent commission of inquiry (BICI) appointed by the king.

The activists had submitted their appeals since Oct 2011, however the court of cassation didn’t hold any hearing session until April 2012 when it ruled on 30 April 2012 that the National Safety Court (military court) verdict does not outline the crime elements, neither in its Mens rea nor its Actus reus, and is therefore “a void verdict that should be reversed”. As such, the activists should have been released immediately, however they were dragged into another show of trials at the higher court of appeal were a fast trial was held between 8 May 2012 until 27 July 2012 through 16 hearing sessions.

The activists have detailed to the court the torture they were subjected to throughout their detention and even though their torturers have been named. There has not been any investigation into these allegations.

Instead of prosecuting the officers involved in torture, the coerced confessions taken under torture and the interrogation records prepared by the military prosecution were used against the activists at the higher court of appeal as sole evidence. The file in the court’s possession lacks any decisive evidence that links activists to the charges in question. …more