DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Bahrain on Sunday carried out its first executions since an Arab Spring uprising rocked the country in 2011, putting to death three men found guilty of a deadly bomb attack on police.
The executions of the Shi’ite men drew swift condemnation from human rights groups and sparked protests by opponents of the Sunni-ruled government, who see the charges as politically motivated. Activists allege that testimony used against the condemned men was obtained through torture.
Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in several predominantly Shi’ite communities to protest the executions.
The rallies at times turned violent as youth hurled projectiles and firebombs while police responded with birdshot and tear gas, witnesses said. The sound of gunfire could be heard into the night. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
Bahrain’s public prosecution said the death sentences were carried out by firing squad. Photos shared by activists purporting to show the bodies of the men showed a tight grouping of multiple gunshot wounds to the heart.
The executions were the first in the US-allied nation since 2010 and followed a spike in protests in solidarity with the convicted men.
Abbas al-Samea, Sami Mushaima and Ali al-Singace were found guilty in 2015 of killing two Bahraini police officers and an Emirati officer deployed to bolster the country’s security forces in a bomb attack the previous year. A court upheld their death sentences.
Bahrain is a tiny island nation off the coast of Saudi Arabia that hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, which patrols the waters around the Arabian Peninsula and is the naval counterweight to Shi’ite power Iran.
Government forces crushed the 2011 uprising with help from allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but the country continues to face unrest led by a majority Shi’ite population that feels marginalized by the Sunni monarchy.
Bahrain also maintains close ties to Britain, which is building a naval base of its own in the country. Over the past two-and-a-half months, Prince Charles, Prime Minister Theresa May, and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson have all paid visits to the island.
Johnson made a point of underscoring Britain’s opposition to the death penalty hours after the sentences were carried out.
Nicholas McGeehan, a researcher who monitors Bahrain for Human Rights Watch, called the executions inflammatory and unjust as he urged the kingdom’s allies to ‘‘publicly and unequivocally condemn these killings.’’ Amnesty International deputy director Samah Hadid called the executions ‘‘a deeply regressive step.’’
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets Saturday in solidarity with the condemned men.
Protests and clashes continued Sunday despite a heavy presence of riot police deployed in predominantly Shi’ite areas. Witnesses said shops were closed in Daih, where the 2014 bombing happened.
