Iranian MPs urge UN to prevent execution of 4 Bahrainis

Sunday, May 1, 2011

TEHRAN - In a statement issued on Saturday, the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian Parliament expressed disapproval the death penalty ordered for four Bahraini citizens.

On Thursday, a Bahraini military court sentenced four men to death over the killing of two policemen in recent anti-government protests.

The Iranian lawmakers stated that giving death sentences to four young Bahrainis and passing life sentences for three other youths indicates the weakness of the Peninsula Shield Force, which was created under the pretext of defending regional security.

In 1984, the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council decided to create a joint military force called the Peninsula Shield Force. The Peninsula Shield Force is intended to deter and respond to military aggression against any of the PGCC member countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

The MPs added that the incidents taking place in Bahrain indicate that the capability of the Peninsula Shield Force is only limited to arresting, torturing, and killing of the defenseless civilians.

The parliamentarians also urged Bahrain to rescind the death sentences and consider the negative consequences of such an action.

Such a move is in sharply violates human rights and international law, the MPs said, urging the United Nations and other international organizations to take measures to prevent enforcement of the rulings.

A number of university students from across Tehran also held a demonstration outside the Bahraini Embassy in Tehran to denounce the bloody massacre of protesters in Bahrain.

The demonstrators carried the coffins of the Bahraini persons killed in recent protests in a symbolic funeral procession.

Source: Tehran Times.
Link: http://www.tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=239738.