The National Safety Courts, special military tribunals, were instituted in March 2011 under King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa's [official profile] three-month state of emergency [JURIST report] and have been internationally criticized, especially by human rights groups [JURIST report] such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website]. In May HRW urged Bahrain to release the remaining prisoners [JURIST report] because the trial violated international fair trial standards in that the convictions were based on apparently coerced confessions and the individuals were merely engaged in peaceful protest. In April a Bahrain appeals court ruled that al-Khawaja and the other protesters would be retried in civilian court [JURIST report], prompting the review by the Court of Cassation. Also in April Amnesty International (AI) issued its own report [JURIST report] alleging human rights violations continue in Bahrain despite reforms. Also that month, four independent UN human rights experts called for al-Khawaja's immediate release [JURIST report].