Bahrain sentences frustrate Pillay - UPI.com 6 (UPI) -- It's "extremely disappointing" that an appeals court in Bahrain upheld the convictions of 20 human rights activists, the U.N. human rights chief said Thursday. The appeals court upheld military court convictions of activists and opposition leaders charged with anti-government actions in the country. Among those convicted was Abdulhadi al-Khawaja who went on a 110-day hunger strike to protest his detention. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said the ruling by the appeals court was regrettable. Those convicted were charged last year in a de facto military court on charges of plotting to overthrow the government during demonstrations against the Sunni-led monarchy. Pillay said she was initially satisfied when Bahrain's government decided to transfer the cases to the civilian courts. "But now, given the gravity of the charges, the scant evidence available beyond confessions, the serious allegations of torture and the irregularities in the trial processes, it is extremely disappointing that the convictions and sentences have been upheld in appeals proceedings that often took place behind closed doors," she said in a statement. The country's Ministry of Human Rights Affairs, in a statement published by the official Bahrain News Agency, said "any statement" critical of the court's decision was rejected because the defendants appeared before the civilian courts. "None of the courts so far adequately addressed the defendants' allegations that they were tortured in detention and forced to make confessions under duress," said Pillay.