Death sentences in Bahrain ‘dramatically escalated’ since 2011

Death sentences in the small Gulf nation have risen more than 600 percent in the past decade, new report finds.

The use of the death penalty in Bahrain has dramatically escalated over the past decade, specifically since the 2011 Arab Spring uprising, a new report has found. Death sentences in the small Gulf archipelago have risen by more than 600 percent, with at least 51 people ordered executed since anti-government protests erupted in 2011, according to a joint report published on Tuesday by anti-death penalty and human rights group Reprieve and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD). Seven people were sentenced to death in the previous decade, the report found.