Bahrain Mirror: Gulf Institute for Democracy and Human Rights (GIDHR) said that it monitored the life sentences in the Bahraini courts between January 2018 and May 2019. GIDHR documented 271 life sentences in political motivated cases.

It explained in its September 2019 newsletter that 130 Bahrainis were sentenced to life in prison in 2018 between January and December at a rate of 10.8 sentences a month, adding that the 43 sentences were issued in May which recorded the highest number of sentences.

Life sentences remarkably increased in 2019. The center monitored 141 sentences between January and May 2019, at an increased rate of 28.2 sentences per month. April recorded the highest number of sentences, as 63 citizens were sentenced to life in jail.

All those sentenced to life in 2019 were stripped of their citizenship, GIDHR noted.

GIDHR's president, Yehya Al-Hadid, said that the increase of harsh sentences in political motivated cases demonstrates the stubbornness of Bahraini authorities and their unwillingness to ease tensions and create a positive climate suitable for national dialogue. Al-Hadid called on the Bahraini authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience, compensate victims of torture, bring to justice those involved in violations, and call for a serious national dialogue with all parties.

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