Amnesty International has appealed to Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on Tuesday to commute the death sentences issued for 12 men and establish an official moratorium on executions.

The London-based organization, in a letter released on Tuesday, asked the 70-year-old monarch to take the measure and to establish an official moratorium on executions.

“The death penalty is the ultimate irreversible cruel punishment. We believe that the death penalty is not an effective way to deter crime and that it is discriminatory: it tends to be disproportionately carried out against minorities and those with less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds. Its application can be subject to political motivation,” it pointed out.

The London-based organization, in a letter released on Tuesday, asked the 70-year-old monarch to take the measure and to establish an official moratorium on executions.

“The death penalty is the ultimate irreversible cruel punishment. We believe that the death penalty is not an effective way to deter crime and that it is discriminatory: it tends to be disproportionately carried out against minorities and those with less advantaged socio-economic backgrounds. Its application can be subject to political motivation,” it pointed out.

 “We believe that your decision to commute all death sentences would have a hugely beneficial impact on Bahraini society at this difficult time, and help foster a culture where the right to life is respected,” Amnesty International asked the Bahraini king.

On June 15, Bahrain’s Court of Cassation upheld death sentence against political detainees Zuhair Ibrahim Jassim Abdullah and Hussein Abdullah Khalil Rashid.

International human rights organizations say Ibrahim and other defendants were severely tortured to make confessions.

Zuheir, along with others, was accused of targeting a bus for regime forces in the western coastal village of Dumistan back in 2014, which left one dead and several others injured.

The same court has sentenced two other men, identified as Mohamed Ramadhan and Husain Moosa, to death two days earlier after purportedly finding them guilty of “killing of a police officer and attempt to kill other members of the force in a premeditated ambush using an explosive device on February 14, 2014” in al-Dair village, which lies northeast of Manama.

The other 10 people with them were also handed down jail terms.

Bahrain’s parliament approved the trial of civilians at military tribunals on March 5, 2017. The move drew widespread condemnation from human rights bodies and activists, and was described as imposition of an undeclared martial law across the country.

Bahrain’s monarch rubber-stamped the constitutional amendment on April 3 that year.

The kingdom has seen anti-regime protests over the past nine years. The major demand has been the ouster of the Al Khalifah regime and the establishment of a just and conclusive system representing all Bahraini nationals.

The Manama regime, in return, has ignored the calls and is pressing ahead with its heavy-handed crackdown and persecution of human rights campaigners and political dissidents.