These appeals come days after Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa [official profile] announced he would dismiss charges against some of the protesters [JURIST report] detained for their participation in pro-democracy demonstrations in the country. In June, the 21 activists were sentenced [JURIST report] after being charged [charges, PDF] with "plotting to topple the leadership of the Kingdom of Bahrain." Also in June, Khalifa announced that an independent commission will investigate human rights violations [JURIST report] related to the country's pro-democracy protests. Earlier that month, the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights announced that Bahrain agreed to permit a UN commission [JURIST report] to investigate human rights violations related to protests. The National Safety Courts were instituted in mid-March and have been internationally criticized, most recently [JURIST report] by Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website]. The court also sentenced nine citizens [JURIST report] to 20 years in prison for kidnapping a police officer in May. In April, the court handed the death sentence to four protesters, a rarity in Bahrain, and upheld the sentences [JURIST reports] for two of the men, who were accused of murdering police officers.