Without offering any justification, Bahrain’s High Criminal Appeals Court has delayed a judgement in the case of Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa who had previously been sentenced to death on the basis of torture-tainted confessions. Lawyers have been notified that the verdict will now be issued on Christmas Day.
A former employee of the UK’s Hong Kong consulate says he was tortured on a trip to mainland China and forced to confess to involvement in pro-democracy protests.
Reporters Without Borders has welcomed the launch of an investigation by Ofcom into Chinese state television network CGTN for airing forced confessions.
Saudi Arabia’s official press agency has announced a mass execution of 37 people. Most, if not all, were convicted in the Specialised Criminal Court (SCC), the Kingdom’s secretive and widely condemned anti-terrorism tribunal.
Amnesty International has called on the Iranian authorities to immediately halt the planned execution of two Iranian ethnic minority Kurds who allege they were tortured into making bogus 'confessions'.
Last year saw a small drop in the overall number of executions around the world, large numbers of death sentences were carried out for non-violent crimes such as drug offences.
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.