“I think in the first place of the right to life, of the need to guarantee that right always, including for those being punished, whose lives should not be taken,” Pope Francis (pontifex) said.
Pope Francis spoke against the death penalty on Thursday at the start of a trip to Bahrain where the Shi’ite Muslim opposition accuse the Sunni monarchy of overseeing human rights abuses and families of death row inmates had sought help from the pontiff.
“I think in the first place of the right to life, of the need to guarantee that right always, including for those being punished, whose lives should not be taken,” he added. Bahrain seeks to strengthen “our common purpose towards a world in which tolerance prevails while striving for peace,” he added.The pope’s visit has drawn attention to tensions between the Sunni-led government and the Shi’ite community that led sizeable pro-democracy protests in the 2011 “Arab Spring”, which Bahrain quashed with Saudi and UAE help.
Bahrain rejects criticism from the United Nations and others over its conduct of trials and detention conditions. It says it prosecutes in accordance with international law and that its legal and judicial system continues to be reformed.
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