Bahraini Doctors Sentenced to Prison for Providing Aid to Protesters

By Zach Waksman
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

MANAMA, Bahrain – Justice was perverted Thursday.  Courts in Bahrain sentenced 20 medical professionals to lengthy prison terms for doing their jobs in providing aid to participants in protests against the Kingdom’s government that took place earlier this year.  The sentences ranged from five to fifteen years in length.

Salmaniya Medical Complex, which employed the accused, was raided by security forceson March 16. (Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera)
Salmaniya Medical Complex, which employed the accused, was raided by security forces on March 16. It was suspected of being a "coordination center" for protesters against the regime. (Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera)

The medics in question worked at Manama’s Salmaniya Medical Complex, Bahrain’s largest public hospital.  Security forces stormed the facility on March 16 after clearing the nearby Pearl Roundabout of protesters, who had been demonstrating peacefully at the time.  Numerous medical personnel were arrested.  According to the official Bahrain News Agency (BNA), they faced trial for “forcefully occupying Salmaniya Medical Centre… possessing unlicensed arms (AK-47s) and knives, incitement to overthrow the regime, seizing medical equipment, detaining policemen, and spreading false news.”  BNA added that they conducted these activities for purposes of terrorism.

The March 16 incident was not the last time Bahrain’s security forces have interfered with the ability of medical professionals to provide much needed care.  On July 28, armed troops raided a Doctors Without Borders clinic in Manama.  All medical equipment and supplies were confiscated, and a volunteer was arrested (he has since been released).  The organization later withdrew from the kingdom entirely.

Bahrain’s International Affairs Authority (IAA) was pleased by the verdict.

“The Salmaniya hospital was used as a co-ordination center for three weeks for protests calling for the overthrow of the government,” an IAA spokesman said.  “Those doctors who have been found guilty were charged with abusing the hospital for political purposes. Nobody is above the law.”

None of the accused attended the hearing, which was held by the National Safety Court of First Instance, a hybrid military court.  It lasted just seven minutes.  The medical professionals were given 24 hours to turn themselves in at the nearest police station or have arrest warrants issued.  The daughter of one medic issued a statement, which was reported by Al Jazeera.

“These cruel sentences present a serious breach of law and is considered to be an attack on the medical profession,” it said.  “We urge all international medical organizations, societies, bodies to take an action, issue a statement or do anything to condemn the recent sentences of Bahraini medical professionals.”

Amnesty International, a global organization that seeks to defend human rights wherever violations exist, called the trial “a travesty of justice.”

“These are simply ludicrous charges against civilian professionals who were working to save lives amid very trying circumstances,” said Philip Luther, Deputy Director of its Middle East and North Africa Programme.  “It appears that the real reason for targeting these health workers was the fact that they denounced the government crackdown on protesters in interviews to international media.  We’ve repeatedly said that Bahraini authorities should never have used military courts to prosecute ordinary civilians, including doctors, teachers and human rights activists.”

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), a Nobel Prize-winning organization that attempts to use science and medicine to prevent or mitigate human rights atrocities, was similarly outraged.

“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 Hans Hogrefe, PHR’s Chief Policy Officer, who called for the sentences to be overturned.

According to the organization, the medics were handled in a manner that denied them basic human rights.  Among other claims, they were arrested and interrogated by military personnel, despite being civilians.  These actions, PHR believes, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Bahrain has ratified.  Allegations of torture also exist, as their health declined while in prison, in part due to a hunger strike that eventually led to their being freed on bail.

A lawyer for the accused medics said that they will appeal their convictions next week before the High Court of Appeal, which is part of the kingdom’s civilian justice system.  But for now, they are saying goodbye to family as they prepare for imprisonment, according to Fatma Haji, one of the doctors.

“I know that I am definitely, 100% innocent,” said Haji, who was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment.  “Our crime – I’m talking about all the medics – was that we helped innocent, helpless people who were just protesting and got injured,”

For more information, please see:

Arabian Business — Bahrain Jails 20 Doctors on Unrest Related Charges — 30 September 2011

Gulf Daily News — SMC Siege Medics Jailed — 30 September 2011

Al Jazeera — Bahrain Medical Staff Sentenced over Protests — 29 September 2011

Amnesty International — Bahrain Military Court Finds Medics Guilty — 29 September 2011

BBC — Bahrain Sentences Medics Who Treated Protesters — 29 September 2011

New York Times — Bahrain Court Hands Down Harsh Sentences to Doctors and Protesters — 29 September 2011

Physicians for Human Rights — PHR Denounces Sentences Passed on Bahraini Medics and Protesters — 29 September 2011

Doctors Without Borders — Bahrain: MSF Condemns Armed Raid on Office and Detention of Staff Member — 3 August 2011

Author: Impunity Watch Archive