PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
Imminent execution of Zuhair Ibrahim Jasim Abdullah and Hussein Abdullah Khalil Rashid in Bahrain (17 June 2020)

That this House views with grave concern the decision taken by Bahrain’s Court of Cassation on 15 June 2020 to uphold the death sentences of Zuhair Ibrahim Jasim Abdullah and Hussein Abdullah Khalil Rashid; notes with alarm that neither man was allowed to attend their final appeal hearing and deeply regrets that despite three UN experts documenting due process violations against 20 individuals including Zuhair and Husain in December 2018, including acts of torture over a 13 day period against Zuhair, that both men have now exhausted all legal remedies and they now face execution pending ratification of the death sentence by the King of Bahrain; reminds the Bahraini authorities that the UN experts stated that under these circumstances, carrying out this death sentence would amount to summary executions;f further notes Bahrain’s increased use of the death penalty since a moratorium ended in 2017 with the execution of three men, followed by the execution of three more by firing squad in July 2019, thereby raising fears that the sentences passed down on Zuhair Ibrahim Jasim Abdullah and Hussein Abdullah Khalil Rashid could be carried out imminently despite serious and ongoing concerns as to the safety of their convictions; and calls on the UK Government to unreservedly condemn these sentences and asks that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office use whatever influence it has with the Bahraini authorities to seek an immediate commutation of these sentences

Sponsored by:
Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party)