DUBAI: Bahrain on Sunday executed three men found guilty of killing three policemen, sparking violent protests and stoking tensions between the country’s Shia majority and its Sunni rulers.

The three Shias faced the firing squad, six days after a court upheld their death sentences over a bomb attack in March 2014, the prosecutor’s office said.

Bahrain, which has been ruled by Al Khalifa dynasty for more than two centuries, has a majority Shia population which has long complained of marginalisation. It has been rocked by sporadic unrest since March 2011 when security forces brutally crushed an Arab Spring-inspired uprising.

The executions triggered protests in Shia villages. Demonstrators blocked roads with burning tyres and police retaliated by firing tear gas, according to posts on social media.

Bahrain authorities do not permit international news agencies to cover events independently.

The executions came a day after demonstrations broke out across Shia villages following rumours they were going to be put to death. They are the first in six years in the Gulf kingdom, according to London-based human rights group, Reprieve.

“It is nothing short of an outrage — and a disgraceful breach of international law — that Bahrain has gone ahead with these executions,” Reprieve director Maya Foa said.

Reprieve said the executions went ahead “despite serious concerns that their convictions were based on evidence obtained under torture”.

‘Black day’

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, head of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said: “This is a black day in Bahrain’s history. It is the most heinous crime committed by the government of Bahrain and a shame upon its rulers.”

Scores of men and women took to the streets on Saturday after the families of the three were summoned to meet them in prison, a measure that usually precedes the implementation of death sentences, witnesses said.

Later on Saturday, a policeman was wounded when his patrol came under fire in the Shia village of Bani Jamra, said the interior ministry.

The outlawed Al-Ashtar Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack in a purported statement, saying the “heroic operation” was a warning to authorities not to harm “brothers sentenced to death”.

Authorities have said that the trio and fellow defendants belonged to the same clandestine group which has claimed several bomb attacks in Bahrain.

The high court on Monday upheld the death sentences against the trio convicted in a bomb attack in March 2014, which killed three policemen, including an officer from the United Arab Emirates.

The executed men have been named by activists as Sami Mushaima, 42, Ali al-Singace, 21, and Abbas al-Samea, 27. Seven other defendants received life terms.

The Emirati officer was part of a Saudi-led Gulf force which rolled into Bahrain in March 2011 to help put down a month of Shia-led protests.

Bahrain is a strategic ally of the United States and home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

Iran’s foreign ministry on Sunday criticised the Bahraini authorities for what it called an “inconsiderate action”.

“The Bahraini regime with its security approach is on its way to complete political blockage,” ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2017