Robert Fisk: I saw these brave doctors trying to save lives – these charges are a pack of lies
Tuesday, 14 June 2011 – The Independent

Has the Khalifa family gone mad? Yesterday, the Bahraini royal family started an utterly fraudulent trial of 48 surgeons, doctors, paramedics and nurses, accusing them of trying to topple the tin-pot monarchy of this Sunni minority emirate. The defendants in this flagrantly unfair military court are, of course, members of the majority Shia people of Bahrain. And since I was a witness to their heroic efforts to save lives in February, I can say – let us speak with a frankness that the Bahraini rulers would normally demand – that the charges are a pack of lies.

Doctors I saw, drenched in their patients’ blood, desperately trying to staunch the bullet wounds of pro-democracy demonstrators shot in cold blood by Bahraini soldiers and police, are now on trial. I watched armed policemen refusing to allow ambulances to collect the wounded from the roads where they had been cut down.

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Jail terms upheld for Shiite opposition members, trials of photographers begin
Published on Thursday 29 September 2011 – Reporters without Borders

Reporters Without Borders condemns a special court’s decision on appeal on 27 September to uphold the prison sentences that were passed on 22 June on 14 members of the Shiite opposition including the blogger Abdeljalil Al-Singace, who was sentenced to life imprisonment.

There were convicted of creating and running a terrorist group designed to change the constitution and the system of monarchy by force, being in contact with a foreign terrorist group that acts in the interests of a foreign country and carries out hostile actions against Bahrain, and raising funds for this group.

The appeal court’s ruling did not concern the seven other activists who were tried in absentia, because they could only appeal after turning themselves in to the authorities.

“We condemn this rigged prosecution before a court that ceased to be competent when the state of emergency was lifted on 1 June and we reiterate our call for the release of all prisoners of conscience in Bahrain,” Reporters Without Borders said. “There has been no improvement in media freedom. The government is using the trials of its opponents in order to silence all dissenting voices.”

The list of abuses against bloggers and journalists continues to get longer. The authorities again obstructed the free flow of information by refusing to allow an Al-Jazeera crew to come to Bahrain to cover the partial parliamentary elections that were held on 24 September.

They also prevented AbdulJalil Khalil, a former parliamentary representative of the opposition party Al-Wefaq, from giving interviews to the BBC, Al-Masar and Al-Hiwar by disconnecting his phone calls on the day of the elections.

Four photographers who were previously tried before military courts – Mohamed Al-Aradi, Zuhair Aoun Al-Shama’a, Mojtaba Salmat and Mohammed Al-Sheikh – have meanwhile been summoned before civilian courts and have been placed in detention pending trial. None of them had access to a lawyer during interrogation or during the first trial.

Al-Aradi and Al-Shama’a are to be tried on 20 and 22 November respectively for covering a demonstration that was authorized and for “inciting hatred of the government by posting photos on the Internet.” Salmat is to be tried on 14 November for taking photos for foreign TV stations and for participating in unauthorized demonstrations.

Al-Sheikh is to be tried on 23 October on charges of photographing banned demonstrations and inciting hatred of the government by disseminating photos, online that caused harm to Bahrain. He is also accused of sending the photos to foreign news agencies.

Reporters Without Borders calls for the immediate release of these photographers and the withdrawal of all the charges against them. The press freedom organization wrote to Dr. Salah Ali Mohamed Abdulrahman, the head of the foreign affairs commission, on 20 September calling for the release of all dissidents. No reply has so far been received.

On 19 September, Reporters Without Borders also wrote to Cherif Bassiouni, the head of an independent commission of inquiry appointed by King Hamad bin Issa Al-Khalifa, about the abuses against journalists and the many media freedom violations since the start of the anti-government protests last February. …source

Bahrain’s national dialogue agrees to protect journalists
July 20, 2011 – People’s Daily

Bahrain’s national dialogue on Tuesday resulted in a key consensus on forming a supreme council for journalists to protect their rights in the kingdom.

The council, which was approved in a human rights session of the dialogue, would regulate and license journalists in the country.

“The council would have an appointed judge and members from the Bahrain Journalists Association and Bahrain Bar Society. They would deal with cases filed against journalists to ensure they are not imprisoned,” Mohammed Ahmed, who is representing the Bahrain Journalists Association in the national dialogue, told Xinhua.

Ahmed said journalists should not be jailed for carrying out their jobs and maintaining high professional standards and ethics.

Spokesman of the dialogue Isa Abdulrahman said at a press conference after the sessions that the participants also agreed to regulate the on-line media and no newspaper should be shut down without a court order.

He said over 250 people attended Tuesday’s sessions with consensus reached on several issues.

Bahrain’s largest opposition group Al Wefaq National Islamic Society did not attend the talks on Tuesday. It submitted its reservations about the dialogue process and justified its absence to the organizers of the national dialogue.

Al Wefaq spokesman Khalil Al Marzooq said the party tried to present serious political solutions to Bahrain’s recent unrest, but were ignored by the government.

Al Wefaq also complained that the opposition parties, which were allocated about 35 of the 300 seats, were underrepresented in the dialogue.

In response to the complaint, Chairman of the national dialogue Khalifa Al Dhahrani said Monday that the dialogue “does not represent the government or the opposition, but aims to represent the views of people from all walks of our society.”

The chairman underlined that the dialogue adheres to an international standards for achieving consensus.

“Participants must not pre-empt the outcome of the dialogue process but stay the course, put aside their differences and work constructively towards achieving a consensus,” Dhahrani said.

The national dialogue, which focuses on areas of politics, economy, social issues and human rights, was called by the Bahraini leadership last month and aims to bring together various segments of the Bahraini society to present the people’s views and demands for further reforms in the country.

Over 300 participants from political societies, human rights groups, women groups, nongovernmental organizations, unions, religious academies and expatriate groups are taking part in the high-level talks. …source

U.S. Congress urged to Block Sale of Arms to Bahrain Dictatorship
For Immediate Release: September 29, 2011 – Human Rights First

Washington, DC – Human Rights First has joined with a dozen other human rights organizations to urge members of the U.S. Congress to block a proposed arms sale of TOW missiles and Humvees to Bahrain.

“This prioritization of security interests over political reform stands in stark contrast to President Obama’s declaration of support in May to those protesting for freedom throughout the region, when he said: ‘If you take the risks that reform entails, you will have the full support of the United States,’” the group wrote to members of the House and Senate.

The Bahrain government continues to crack down on peaceful protest aimed at democratic reform. Bahrain is ruled by a monarchy where the king’s uncle has been the country’s unelected prime minister since 1971. The proposed arms sale would be the first from the U.S. since Bahrain’s mass protests for reform in February 2011 and the subsequent violent crackdown by the government.

Human Rights First’s Brian Dooley visited Bahrain twice over the summer and found that during the recent crackdown, more than 1000 people were detained and there are widespread reports of torture. At least four people have died in custody and thousands more people have been fired because of their alleged connection to the protests. Civilians continue to be tried by military courts and heavy prison sentences handed out.

The letter to the U.S. Congress asks members to take a series of actions against the sale, noting, “We urge you to speak out immediately and take meaningful action to block this sale. Under Section 36 of the Arms Export Control Act, we request that you and other members of Congress pass a joint resolution of disapproval to prohibit the proposed sale. We encourage you to seek a detailed justification from the Administration for the proposed sale. In addition, you should request a formal briefing from the Department of State on how this sale will affect the process of political reform and accountability for serious human rights violations in Bahrain, and how this sale will affect public sentiment toward the United States and its presence in Bahrain.” …source

Bahrain upholds lengthy prison terms for journalists
September 28, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists

New York, September 28, 2011–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns today’s decision by the appeals chamber of Bahrain’s Court of National Safety to uphold lengthy prison terms for 21 individuals, including two online journalists and a prominent human rights defender. In separate press freedom violations, authorities prevented a newspaper from covering Saturday’s parliamentary by-election, and an independent journalist has faced persistent harassment.

The appellate ruling, which was reported by the official Bahrain News Agency, upheld the June convictions of journalistic bloggers Abduljalil Alsingace and Ali Abdel Imam and human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a leading defender of free expression rights, on a series of charges related to “plotting to topple” the regime. The court also let stand the life prison sentences given to Alsingace and al-Khawaja, and the 15-year term handed to Abdel Imam. The original proceedings in the Court of National Safety, a tribunal made up of civilian and military judges, were marred by a lack of due process and fairness, according to news accounts and human rights defenders. Defense lawyers had limited access to both their clients and to the evidence in the case, according to those accounts, and the court did not fully investigate reports that the defendants were tortured in custody.

“Journalism, no matter how adversarial to the government, does not amount to an antistate crime,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Mohamed Abdel Dayem. “The prosecution failed to produce evidence implicating the two journalists in a crime, and the courts did not ensure fair and just proceedings.”

Alsingace and Abdel Imam were arrested last year on antistate conspiracy charges during a government crackdown. They were released in February as the government sought to appease a then-nascent protest movement, but they were re-arrested in March as authorities cracked down again. Al-Khawaja was arrested in April and suffered extensive physical abuse, CPJ research shows.
Front page of Al-Wasat (AP)

In a separate case, the government’s election committee delayed granting ID passes to journalists for the independent daily Al-Wasat, thus preventing them from covering the government’s by-elections on Saturday, local journalists told CPJ. The government-issued ID passes allow journalists to enter and report from polling stations. The election was scheduled to fill 18 empty seats in the 40-seat parliament that had been vacated by Shiite lawmakers six months ago to protest the crackdown. On September 21, just days before the election, the Bahrain News Agency published an Interior Ministry statement that “warned against posting illegal calls on social networking and Internet websites inciting people to break the law,” adding that circulating or publicizing calls to take part in rallies is a “crime punishable by the law.” …more

Time to change U.S. policy toward Saudi Arabia
By Caitlin Fitz Gerald – Special to CNN – 28 September,, 2011

American foreign policy is often torn between shared values and strategic interests. Nowhere is the divide more pronounced than in U.S. dealings with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Although Saudi Arabia has an egregious record on human rights, a major arms deal is being finalized between the country and the U.S. Indeed, Saudi Arabia appears positioned to remain a stable center of U.S. policy in the region, now more than ever.

Saudi Arabia’s interactions with its restive neighbors have been reliably counterrevolutionary. Saudi Arabia has historically preferred Yemen divided and weak. Although divisions within the regime on the best approach to Yemen are clear, Saudi Arabia has shown a consistent willingness to intervene in Yemen’s affairs. North of the Kingdom in Jordan, where stalled political reforms and a struggling economy have led to regular protests, the Saudi regime has offered economically advantageous membership in the Gulf Cooperation Council and at least $400 million in grants to support the country’s economy and reduce its budget deficit. Additionally, Kingdom forces headed up an intervention in Bahrain in March, on behalf of their allies, the ruling al-Khalifa regime.

Saudi troops helped the Sunni leaders crack down on the Shia protests and may have assisted in the destruction of a number of Shiite mosques in the country. This assistance not only helped restore stability to the closely neighboring island, but also may have served as a message to the Kingdom’s own Shia population, which has long been the subject of severe discrimination by the Wahhabi sect that dominates the Saudi religious establishment. In recent years, there has been a renewal of small Shia protests in Saudi Arabia, but public protest remains illegal. The government aggressively clamps down on protest movements, and those arrested often disappear into the prison system. The only man to appear for a planned day of protests on March 11 in Riyadh was arrested; he remains imprisoned with no access to legal representation.

Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights is dismal . The plight of the country’s foreign domestic workers is so bad that Indonesia this year barred its citizens from working there after a particularly serious incident. Laborers not only work long hours for little pay under draconian sponsorship laws, but abuse is common, redress virtually unknown and a worker is more likely to be convicted for standing up for herself than to see her employer convicted for abusing her. Saudi citizens cannot rely on the rule of law either, as the legal system is still built largely on un-codified religious law and royal decree. Even codification efforts seem aimed toward formalizing injustice. Despite some recent changes, women in Saudi Arabia have diminished legal standing; a woman’s voice carries half the weight of a man’s in court proceedings and women require the supervision of a male family member for many activities. They are also not permitted to drive, which is the only rights issue for which U.S. politicians have applied any public pressure on the Saudi regime.

Nevertheless, last fall, the U.S. came to an agreement with Saudi Arabia on a $60 billion arms deal, the biggest such deal in U.S. history. It includes a large package of new fighter jets, upgrades to older jets and a variety of attack helicopters, as well as equipment, weapons, training and support for all systems. It hasn’t been finalized, but Congress raised no objections when the deal was reviewed last fall. In fact, in July there were reports that the deal was being expanded to include an additional $30 billion to facilitate upgrades to the Saudi Navy. An agreement of this scope and magnitude shows a clear commitment by the United States to its future relationship with the Kingdom. Upgrading their fleet will allow them to take a stronger posture against Iran and those attack helicopters will be useful for limiting spillover from the chaos in neighboring Yemen.
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PHR Denounces Sentences Passed on Bahraini Medics and Protestors
Calls for persecution of health providers to cease
Media Contact – Megan Prock – Tel: 617-301-4237 -Cell: 617-510-3417 – Cambridge, Mass – 09/29/2011

PHR denounces the guilty verdicts and harsh sentences issued in Bahrain against 20 medical professionals and two protestors on September 29. The medics were convicted for providing care to protestors during the country’s popular uprising earlier this year. PHR calls on the government of Bahrain to set aside the verdicts and not carry out the sentences.

“These are medical professionals who were treating patients during a period of civil unrest, as their ethical duty requires them to do. To imprison them as part of a political struggle is unconscionable,” said PHR’s Chief Policy Officer, Hans Hogrefe.

PHR has continually challenged the legitimacy of the charges against the medics. The medical professionals being charged are civilians who have been arrested and interrogated by military prosecutors, and then tried by a hybrid military court. This does not meet with the minimum standard of a fair trial. These convictions demonstrate a clear disregard for human rights on the part of the Bahraini authorities and are in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which was ratified by the Kingdom of Bahrain.

In April, PHR released the report Do No Harm, which detailed Bahrain’s systematic attacks on physicians, medical staff, and patients. PHR has continually condemned the human rights violations of all civilians during the popular uprising, and has called for all to receive fair trials.

PHR has also received reports of torture of the detainees and a significant decline in the detainees’ health while in detention.

“We are gravely concerned that Bahraini judges have not given these torture allegations sufficient consideration in their final verdict and that any confessions may well have been forced and are therefore invalid,” said Deputy Director Richard Sollom, who authored PHR’s April report.

“We believe the Kingdom of Bahrain still has time to act before the doctors are arrested and taken to prison,” said Hogrefe. “In the past, leading medical organizations have called for the release of the doctors. Today we call on the voices of medical professionals worldwide to urge the government of Bahrain to set aside the verdicts and not carry out the sentences.”

PHR has been told by sources inside Bahrain that the following sentences have been passed on 20 medical professionals:

1. Dr. Ali Al-Ekri ( 15 Years )
2. Dr. Nader Diwani ( 15 Years )
3. Dr. Ahmed Abdul Aziz Omran ( 15 Years )
4. Dr. Mahmoud Asghar ( 15 Years )
5. Rola Al Saffar ( 15 Years )
6. Dr. Abdulkhaleq Al-Oraibi ( 15 Years )
7. Dr. Ghassan Dhaif ( 15 Years )
8. Dr. Bassim Dhaif ( 15 Years )
9. Sayed Marhoon Al-Wedaie ( 15 Years )
10. Dr. Nada Dhaif ( 15 Years )
11. Dr. Fatima Haji ( 5 Years )
12. Dheya Ibrahim AbuIdris ( 5 Years )
13. Dr. Najah Khalil Al-Haddad ( 5 Years )
14. Dr. Saeed Al-Samahiji ( 10 Years )
15. Dr. Zahra Al-Sammak ( 5 Years )
16. Ali Hassan Alsddi ( 15 Years )
17. Ibrahim Abdullah Ibrahimn ( 15 Years )
18. Hassan Mohammed Said ( 10 Years )
19. Mohammed Faiq Ali ( 5 Years )
20. Qassim Mohammed Omran ( 15 Years )

…source

GCHR and BCHR call for the Bahraini King’s immediate intervention to stop persecuting Medical Staff in Bahrain
29 September 2011 – Bahrain Center for Human Rights

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights condemn in the strongest term the unfair and harsh verdicts issued today by the National Safety Court, in other words a military court – against 20 doctors, nurses and paramedics working for the state health sector in Bahrain. The verdicts include 15, 10 and 5 years prison sentences against the 20 health professionals as listed below:

1. Dr. Ali Al-Ekri, 15 years in prison
2. Dr. Nadir Diwani, 15 years in prison
3. Dr. Ahmed Abdul Aziz Omran, 15 years in prison.
4. Dr. Mahmoud Asghar, 15 years in prison
5. Rula Al Saffar, head of Bahrain Nursing Society, 15 years in prison
6. Dr. Abdulkhaleq Al-Oraibi, 15 years in prison
7. Dr. Ghassan Daif, 15 years in prison
8. Bassem Daif, 15 years in prison
9. Sayed Marhoon Al-Wedaie, 15 years in prison
10. Dr. Nada Daif, 15 years in prison
11. Dr. Fatima Salman Haji, 5 years in prison
12. Dheya Jafar Ibrahim, 5 years in prison
13. Dr.Najah Khalil Ibrahim, 5 years in prison
14. Dr. Saeed Samahiji, 10 years in prison
15. Dr. Zahra Mehdi Sammak, 5 years in prison
16. Mohammed Ul-Shehab, 5 years in prison
17. Haassan Mohamed Altoblani, 10 years in prison
18. Ibrahim Abdullah Ibrahim Damastani, 15 years in prison
19. Ali Hassan Alsdda, 15 years in prison, tried in absentia

20. Qassim Mohammed Omran, 15 in prison, tried in absentia


The Bahraini government has presented the military court with a list of ready-made charges against the group such as:

1. The possession of unlicensed weapons and ammunition;
2. The attempt of forcefully occupying a public building (Salmaniya Hospital);
3. Promotion to bring down and change the regime by illegal means;
4. The confiscation of medical equipment;
5. Spreading false news about the wounded;
6. Inciting hatred against the governing regime.

What the Bahraini government has done on this occasion is something that has never happened in the modern history of man-kind; by targeting the health professionals using the most inhuman ways such as: arbitrary arrest, torture, extracting confessions from them while blindfolded and under torture, and bad conditions in prison.

The ill-treatment that they faced from the very first moment of arrest and the huge pressure created an unlimited amount of psychological and physical pain on all of them, while others are now suffering from chronic diseases. Despite the promise of the King of Bahrain and in contrary to national legislation, the doctors and medics who are civilians have been brought before a military court that lacks the basic principles of justice and does not comply with any of the international standards in order to deliver justice to law-abiding citizens. The 20 doctors, nurses and paramedics who have faced criminal charges, are part of 48 doctors, nurses and paramedics who were arrested in March and April 2011, while the second group includes 28 accused of misdemeanors. “The Bahraini government is targeting highly qualified health professionals who have an excellent reputation on both the national and international levels. Their crime is they tried to treat their fellow citizens who took part in peaceful demonstrations,” said Nabeel Rajab head of Gulf Centre for Human Rights and Bahrain Centre for Human Rights. He continued by saying that “the government of Bahrain should instead bring those who attacked the peaceful demonstrators to justice.”

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights and the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights call on the King of Bahrain to intervene personally and immediately to stop this farce and revoke these unfair sentences issued against the medical staff. He should also disable all the arbitrary measures against them and compensate them fairly for all material and moral damages and set up an independent commission to investigate all allegations of torture reported by reliable sources from within Bahrain. …source

[cb editor: The “great hope” is that the powers in the West, the US and UK, will find the moral courage to find a solution that moves beyond despotic rule and State Violence on a nonviolent opposition quickly rather than allow the “slow bleed” unto change that will eventually lead to desperation and violence from the opposition. Moral Courage from the West – seems an oxymoron and I doubt it… …moving quickly to create a democratic outcome to avert a protracted contagion of violence that seems inevitable, I doubt that too.]

Bahrain Should Heed Lessons from Ireland
Posted: 9/29/11 – Brian Dooley – Human Rights First

Take two small island nations, each situated off the coast of a major power. Both have a history of sectarian conflict, fake democracy and misrule by monarchy. Both have a strategically important deepwater naval base. Crucially, both have a police force recruited almost exclusively from one of the sects.

Both have populations of around a million and a half, and both enjoy the dubious legacy of British colonialism and the traditions of its security apparatus.

There are differences, of course. Bahrain remains one country while Ireland was cut into two almost 90 years ago in a makeshift political solution to create Northern Ireland, which has a Protestant majority largely keen on continued British rule and loyal to the British monarch. In Northern Ireland, the fight for civil rights for Catholics (or for “parity of esteem” in modern jargon) has been conducted largely in the rain, cold and damp, whereas Bahrainis’ struggle happens in extreme heat and sunshine.

From the early 1920s, when Northern Ireland was created, the largely Protestant ruling class excluded Catholics from top government jobs, and the police force was almost exclusively Protestant, fiercely loyal to the British Protestant monarch. Electoral districts were gerrymandered to give Protestants a permanent electoral advantage even in areas like Derry, which had a Catholic majority.

In Bahrain, electoral districts are gerrymandered in favor of Sunnis, while Shias are excluded from top government jobs. The police force is almost exclusively Sunni, fiercely loyal to the Sunni monarch.

In 1968, inspired by the Prague Spring, Northern Ireland saw its first civil rights protests. A wave of pro-democracy marches and demonstrations swept Europe, from Prague to Warsaw to Belgrade to Paris and beyond. In Derry in Northern Ireland, the protests were met with a violent crackdown from the security forces. Within a year, with protests escalating, the police in Northern Ireland had to be reinforced by soldiers sent from neighboring Britain.

This year, inspired by the Arab Spring and demonstration in Tuni, Cairo and elsewhere, Bahraini pro-democracy activists organised huge protests which were met with a violent crackdown from the security forces. Within a month, with protests escalating, the police in Bahrain had to be reinforced by soldiers sent from neighboring Saudi Arabia.

We could go on, listing the similarities in the special court systems, the torture and ill-treatment of detainees, the shooting of peaceful protestors, the deaths in custody, the fake shows of dialogue about power-sharing, the allegations of foreign conspiracies (led by Tehran or the Vatican), the social segregation of people living in different areas and shopping in different stores.
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[cb editor: words without deeds are meaningless. Why is it the words come after the travesty of justice has been committed? The Foreign Secretary’s words won’t undo the injustice but sanctions and stopping weapons sales in all forms might get King Hamad’s attention.]

Foreign Secretary concerned by sentences in Bahrain
29 September 2011 – Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Speaking today the Foreign Secretary said:

“I am deeply concerned, that after the briefest of hearings, a Bahraini Special Tribunal has sentenced a group of medics to between 5 and 15 years in prison, upheld life sentences against Bahraini opposition leaders and passed one sentence of the death penalty.

“These sentences appear disproportionate to the charges brought. These are worrying developments that could undermine the Bahraini Government’s moves towards dialogue and the reform needed for long-term stability in Bahrain.

“I call on the Bahraini judicial authorities to follow due process carefully and transparently, and to revoke the decision to impose the death penalty.

“Cases before the Special Tribunals should be transferred to regular civilian courts. This would help the Bahraini authorities demonstrate their commitment to upholding civil liberties, including the right to appeal and equal access to justice.” …source

Hezbollah Condemns Bahraini Repression Against Women
ABNA.com 28 September, 2011

Hezbollah on Thursday condemned the repressive actions adopted by Bahraini authorities against the people there especially the women, comparing these actions to the American terror against the detainees in Guantanamo and Abu Ghreib.

Hezbollah Condemns Bahraini Repression Against Women

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – “Repressive actions taken by Bahraini authorities are mounting against the citizens, reaching the extent of detaining dozens of women and terrorizing them”.

“In an unprecedented violation to the sanctity of the Arab and Muslim woman, Bahraini authorities hold these women in detention, insult, handcuffed, and threw them over each others. It also used sectarian terms as they talked to them”.

“This new crime would be added to the authorities’ series of crimes”.

Hezbollah also slammed the upholding of long jail terms against protesters and some opposition figures, saying: “all their fault is that they peacefully took to streets calling for their right of freedom”.

“All of free people in the world condemn these oppressive actions which look like the American terror in Guantanamo and Abu Ghreib”.

The party also stressed its support to the Bahraini people and its legitimate demands. …source

Update: Bahrain: Medical Care Criminalized in Bahrain
Posted on 2011/09/29 – Front Line Defenders

Medical Care Criminalized in Bahrain Front Line Defenders Deplores Prison Sentences Handed Down to Doctors and Nurses in Bahrain

Dublin, Ireland, September 29, 2011 – Front Line Defenders condemns in the strongest terms the sentencing today by the Bahrain National Safety Court of First Instance of 20 medical staff to prison sentences ranging from 5 to 15 years following a deeply flawed and unfair trial. Among those sentenced are Dr. Ali Al Ekri, Dr. Bassim Dhaif, and Dr. Ghassan Dhaif all of whom were trained at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and received 15-year sentences. Among those receiving 5-year prison sentences were Dr. Zahra Al-Sammak, who also trained in Dublin; Dr. Fatima Haji, who was a lecturer at the RCSI campus in Bahrain; and Ms. Rola Al-Saffar, President of the Bahrain Nursing Society.
Professor Damian McCormack, orthopaedic surgeon, who led an Irish fact-finding delegation to Bahrain in July, was outraged by the sentencing: “This is an utterly abhorrent decision by the Bahraini court. It is beyond belief the doctors, nurses and other medical workers could be treated as criminals for providing medical care to the injured. It is time for RCSI to reconsider its relationship with Bahrain, if there is to be no respect for the medical profession.”

The trial and subsequent sentencing of the medics is the latest instance of human rights violations that members of the medical profession have been subjected to over the last six months, including arbitrary arrest and detention, intimidation, loss of employment, torture and ill-treatment, malicious prosecutions, prolonged incommunicado detention, smear campaigns, sexual assaults and death threats.

Front Line Defenders has repeatedly raised deep concerns with the Bahraini authorities about violations meted out to members of the medical profession, including their unfair trial. Mary Lawlor, Director of Front Line Defenders said in response to the sentencing: “The sentencing of these medical workers, who were upholding their professional, moral and legal responsibilities to treat the injured is unjust and will stand as a historic low for respect the most basic human rights and humanitarian principles.”

The organization considers the trial of the doctors before the National Safety Court to be unconstitutional and grossly unfair. The Bahraini Constitution prohibits the trial of civilians before military courts and does not allow the establishment of a military prosecution system except during Martial Law. The operation of military prosecution is not allowed in Bahrain during a National Safety State.

Among the irregularities which have marked the trial of the medics were the failure of National Safety Court to investigate allegations of torture and the use of excessive force during their arrest; incommunicado detention for weeks without access to their families and lawyers; and extraction of confessions under torture and duress.

The trial and sentencing of the medical professionals represent a dark page in the history of Bahrain. The scale of brutality and injustice visited on doctors is unprecedented not only in the region, but internationally. The persecution of medical personnel on this scale has not been witnessed in any other country in the region despite widespread protests. The effort by the government of Bahrain to criminalize medical care is thus a dangerous precedent if allowed to stand.

Front Line Defenders calls on the Bahraini authorities to immediately drop the sentences passed on the doctors, ensure that they are reinstated to their positions and compensated for the damage suffered during their detention and trial. Front Line Defenders also calls on those responsible for the torture of the medical personnel to be brought to justice. …source

Bahrain court sentences protester to death
The Associated Press – September 28, 2011

MANAMA, Bahrain — Bahrain’s special security court on Thursday sentenced a protester to death for killing a policeman, and gave doctors and nurses who had treated injured protesters during the country’s uprising earlier this year lengthy prison sentences, a lawyer said.

Attorney Mohsen al-Alawi said the tribunal, set up during Bahrain’s emergency rule, convicted and sentenced 13 medical professionals each to 15 years in prison. In addition, two doctors were sentenced to 10 years each while seven other medics convicted on Thursday got shorter prison terms of 5 years each.

Thursday’s harsh sentences suggest the Sunni authorities in the Gulf kingdom will not relent in pursing and punishing those they accuse of supporting the Shiite-led opposition and participating in dissent that has roiled the tiny island nation.

Earlier this year, the same special court sentenced two other protesters to death for killing a police officer in a separate incident.

Al-Alawi, the lawyer, said the 22 medical professionals, who were charged with various anti-state crimes, and the protester who got the death sentence on Thursday can appeal their verdicts.

Hundreds of activists have been imprisoned since March when Bahrain’s rulers imposed martial law to deal with protests by the country’s Shiite majority demanding greater rights and freedoms.

More than 30 people have been killed since the protests began in February, inspired by Arab uprisings elsewhere. The Sunni monarchy that rules this strategically important Gulf nation, which is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, responded with a violent crackdown.

Thursday’s sentences came a day after the tribunal upheld sentences for 21 activists convicted for their roles in the protests, including eight prominent political figures who were given life terms on charges of trying to overthrow the kingdom’s Sunni rulers.

The court’s decision reflected the authorities’ unwillingness to roll back punishments for those considered central to the anti-government uprising, although officials have taken some steps to ease tensions. They include releasing some detainees and reinstating state workers purged for suspected support of the seven-month-old protest movement.

The doctors’ trial has been closely watched by rights groups, which have criticized Bahrain’s use of the security court, which has military prosecutors and both civilian and military judges, in prosecuting civilians. …source

AP Photo – Masked Bahraini anti-government protesters watch from rooftops as tear gas fills the Shiite village of Sanabis, Bahrain, on the edge of the capital of Manama, where protesters engage in daily clashes with violent Security Forces staffed by unqualified foreign nationals.
…source