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Biden Fails a Death Penalty Abolitionist’s Most Important Test

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The mystery of Joe Biden’s views about capital punishment has finally been solved. His decision to grant clemency to 37 of the 40 people on federal death row shows the depth of his opposition to the death penalty. And his decision to leave three of America’s most notorious killers to be executed by a future administration shows the limits of his abolitionist commitment. The three men excluded from Biden’s mass clemency—Dylann Roof, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and Robert Bowers—would no doubt pose a severe test of anyone’s resolve to end the death penalty. Biden failed that test.
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Torture investigator orders new Bahrain death penalty hearing

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Bahrain
Acting on recommendations from UK-trained torture investigators, Bahrain’s Attorney General has requested that the country’s highest court reconsider the death sentences handed to two men convicted on the basis of forced confessions obtained through torture.

Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa were sentenced in December 2014 for supposed involvement in a bombing that killed a police officer in Bahrain. Bahrain’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), a UK-trained body set up to investigate allegations of misconduct and torture, recommended the case was referred to the Court of Cassation after new medical evidence emerged.

The Attorney General of Bahrain, Dr Ali bin Fadhl Al-Buainain, said in a statement posted on social media on Wednesday that the cases were being referred “in accordance with the requirements of justice.”

This comes at a time when there are other facing imminent execution, Including Maher Abbas who has had his death sentence confirmed despite Bahrain’s highest court accepting that he was convicted on the basis of a confession obtained through torture.

Maya Foa, director of Reprieve, said: “This belated recognition that Mohamed and Husain’s trial was unfair is welcome but it comes after they have already suffered torture, including being stripped naked, beaten with iron rods and having their families threatened with rape.

“Bahrain must now go further and allow the Special Investigation Unit to review all death penalty cases where there were allegations of torture. This must include the case of Maher Abbas, who is facing imminent execution despite concerns expressed by Bahrain’s highest court that he was coerced into confessing.”

Source: irishlegal.com, March 29, 2018


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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
Location: Bahrain
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