US-backed Bahrain regime stages military trial of doctors and nurses

US-backed Bahrain regime stages military trial of doctors and nurses
By Bill Van Auken
15 June 2011

The US-backed dictatorship of the al-Khalifa dynasty in Bahrain proceeded this week with the military trial of 47 doctors and nurses rounded up during mass protests last March.

This judicial travesty, which is emblematic of the ferocious repression unleashed by the regime of King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa against the demonstrations that swept the country last February and March, has elicited no word of protest from Washington.

While the Obama administration has daily demanded “regime-change” in Libya and questioned the “legitimacy” of the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, it last week welcomed a Bahraini crown prince to the White House and praised the regime for its commitment to “reform” and “dialogue.”

Bahrain is the site of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters and is a close ally of Saudi Arabia, which sent troops to assist in the crackdown against the protests.

The hearing in the military court in the Bahraini capital of Manama had to be adjourned Monday after defendants rose to denounce the fact that they had been tortured during the 90 days they were held without trial. …more