DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—
Doctors and nurses who treated anti-government protesters in Bahrain following a government crackdown on dissent now face trail for treason.
As many as 47 medical professionals were formally charged on Monday at a special military court, with incitement to overthrow the regime, deadly assault, and refusal to help persons in need.
However, rights activists claim the men and women were being unfairly targeted for treating anti-government protesters following the introduction of martial law in the small monarchical state.
Hundreds of healthcare workers were dismissed from their positions late last week and many told media they feared it was because they were Shi’ite.
The demonstrations saw thousands of protesters camped at Pearl Roundabout in Manama throughout February and March. They were mostly Shi’ite, seeking greater representation in the government, which has been ruled by a Sunni minority for more than 300 years.
Officials say the 47 were targeted for playing a role in the protests. “They abused their profession and prevented some people from entering the Salmaniya hospital,” said Abdul-Aziz bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, the senior international counselor at the Information Affairs Authority, in comments to Reuters last week.
“They cooperated with those protesters to hold political and religious rallies within the hospital grounds and provided misinformation to media outlets.”
The trial will begin next week, CNN reported, citing an unnamed source who was at the court on Monday.
Medics who were detained following a crackdown on protesters told AFP last week that they had been tortured and forced to admit that they had splashed blood on protesters to make injuries look worse in the eyes of international media.
Bahrain is the base for the U.S. Fifth Fleet, and the government had initially taken a soft line on protests. However, it later declared martial law and security forces from neighbouring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates arrived to quell protests.
Bahrain is of strategic importance to the Sunni Gulf monarchies, who perceived the involvement of Shi’ite Iran in formenting protest in the restive state.
There are believed to be 30 people who have died following the crackdown and around 1,000 who have been detained.
Physicians for Human Rights sent investigators to Bahrain to look at allegations of mistreatment by medical professionals.
“Our investigation produced strong evidence that the Government of Bahrain has systematically targeted medical personnel as a result of their efforts to provide ethical and unbiased care for wounded protestors,” said Richard Sollom, deputy director of the group in a statement to the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
“These systematic attacks include abductions of physicians, some of whom were taken from their homes in the middle of the night, handcuffed and blindfolded, by masked security forces.
“For each doctor, nurse, or medic that the government disappears, many more civilians’ lives are impacted as patients go untreated.”
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