Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): The Bahrain Forum for Human Rights (BFHR) held its fifth international conference on Tuesday (April 29, 2016), entitled "Bahrain: Rights Under Restrictions-Freedom of Expression Peaceful Assembly and Right of Citizenship" at the Coral Beach Hotel in the Lebanese Capital, Beirut.

The Director of the World Coalition against the Death Penalty-France (WCADP), O'Reilly Plessis, said in a pre-recorded speech that "although there hasn't been many executions in the past few years; [...] there were a few people sentenced to death last year, we expect the number of people to grow in the coming years."

"The situation in Bahrain has been very worrying and there have been a lot of accusations of people who have been sentenced to prison and sentenced to death for crimes that are not the most serious crimes under international law," added Plessis.

She further stated that fair trials are not respected in Bahrain and that there has been a lack of access to appeal, lawyers, as well as non-automatic clemency process, noting that there is also an increasing tendency of sentencing political prisoners to heavy sentences.

She highlighted that the world coalition is made of 140 member organizations all over the world, including some members in Bahrain, adding that they're facing many difficulties in performing their job and act against the death penalty.

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