29/07/2019 (Agence Europe) – The spokesman for the European External Action Service called on the Kingdom of Bahrain on Saturday 27 July to introduce a moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolishing the death penalty, following the execution of three people in the country on the same day. “The executions took place despite reported concerns that the convictions were based on confessions extracted under torture”, the spokesperson said in a statement. Two of the individuals executed by firing squad are reportedly Ali Al Arab and Ahmed Al Malali, sentenced to death for ”terrorism” in a mass trial at the end of January 2018. The EEAS spokesperson reiterated the EU's opposition to the death penalty, calling it a "cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment", which constitutes "an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity”. (CG)