Bahrain health worker trials
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Bahrain health worker trials were a series of legal cases in which forty-eight doctors, nurses, and dentists faced charges for their actions during the
Bahraini uprising of 2011 The 2011 Bahraini uprising was a series of anti-government protests in Bahrain led by the Shia-dominant and some Sunni minority Bahraini opposition from 2011 until 2014. The protests were inspired by the unrest of the 2011 Arab Spring and prot ...
. In September 2011, twenty of the health workers were convicted by a military court of felonies including "stockpiling weapons" and "plotting to overthrow the government". The remaining twenty-eight were charged with misdemeanors and tried separately. The following month, the felony sentences were overturned, and it was announced that the defendants would be retried by a civilian court. Retrials began in March 2012, but were postponed until June 14. Convictions against nine of the defendants were quashed and reduced against another nine.Samia Nakhoul (14 June 2012)
"Bahrain eases medic sentences, U.S. "deeply disappointed""
Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was estab ...
. Retrieved 21 June 2012.
The Court of Cassation upheld the sentences against the remaining nine on 1 October. The case drew international attention and criticism,Rania El Gamal (1 October 2012)
"Bahrain court upholds jail terms on protesting medics: BNA"
Reuters. ''Chicago Tribune''. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
with organizations including the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
, the
World Medical Association The World Medical Association (WMA) is an international and independent confederation of free professional medical associations representing physicians worldwide. WMA was formally established on September 18, 1947 and has grown to 115 national m ...
,
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF; pronounced ), also known as Doctors Without Borders, is a humanitarian medical non-governmental organisation (NGO) or charity of French origin known for its projects in conflict zones and in countries affected by endemic diseases. M ...
, the
International Council of Nurses The International Council of Nurses (ICN) is a federation of more than 130 national nurses associations. It was founded in 1899 and was the first international organization for health care professionals. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerl ...
,
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
, and
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
expressing their concern over the health workers' military trials and sentences. An independent commission organized by the
King of Bahrain The King of the Kingdom of Bahrain ( ar, ملك مملكة البحرين) is the monarch and head of state of Bahrain. The House of Khalifa has been the ruling family since 1783. Between 1783 and 1971, the Bahraini monarch held the title of ha ...
concluded in November 2011 that many of the detained health workers had been subject to torture and abuse while in police detention.


Role of health workers in the Bahrain uprising

Beginning in February 2011, Bahrain saw sustained pro-democracy protests, centered at
Pearl Roundabout The GCC Roundabout, known as Pearl Roundabout or Lulu Roundabout (Arabic language, Arabic: ', "Roundabout of the pearl(s)" was a roundabout located near the Central business district, financial district of Manama, Bahrain. The roundabout was nam ...
in the capital of
Manama Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani Arabic, Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is h ...
, as part of the wider
Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...
. Authorities responded with a night raid on 17 February (later referred to by protesters as Bloody Thursday), which left four protesters dead and more than 300 injured. Health workers played an important role in documenting the injuries, which were at the time downplayed or denied by the
government of Bahrain The Cabinet of Bahrain is the chief executive body of the Kingdom of Bahrain. According to Article 32 (b) of the 2002 Constitution, "executive authority is vested in the King together with the Council of Ministers and Ministers". The Council of M ...
.
Rheumatologist Rheumatology (Greek ''ῥεῦμα'', ''rheûma'', flowing current) is a branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis and management of disorders whose common feature is inflammation in the bones, muscles, joints, and internal organs. Rheumatolog ...
Fatima Haji, for example, appeared on
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
television news in a "hysterical" state, describing Isa Abdul Hasan, a man in his 60s who died in her hospital of a head wound he had received from police: "I just started shouting: 'What the hell did this guy do, he was an old man. What did he do to deserve this?'" She later stated that following her arrest, her interrogations were centered on this television appearance. At
Salmaniya Medical Complex Salmaniya Medical Complex ( ar, مجمع السلمانية الطبي) is a public hospital situated in the Salmaniya district of Manama in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Established in 1957 and having a bed capacity of approximately 1,200 beds, it is ...
, doctors joined the protests themselves, speaking to protesters and media from the hospital stairs, after authorities blocked ambulances from bringing injured protesters there for care. The military responded by naming the hospital an opposition stronghold, taking it over on March 16.


Arrests and charges

In March and April 2011, twenty health workers were arrested on a variety of felony charges for their actions during the protests, while an additional twenty-eight were arrested for misdemeanors. The total number of arrested health workers exceeded seventy. Dr. Ali Al-Ekri was arrested while performing surgery at Salmaniya Medical Complex. Charges against the doctors included "occupying a hospital, stockpiling weapons, spreading lies and false news, inciting hatred of Bahrain's rulers and calling for their overthrow, and withholding treatment of Sunnis". The government additionally alleged that blood from hospital
blood banks A blood bank is a center where blood gathered as a result of blood donation is stored and preserved for later use in blood transfusion. The term "blood bank" typically refers to a department of a hospital usually within a Clinical Pathology laborat ...
had been used to exaggerate wounds, that health workers had transported weapons to the protesters by ambulance, and that
AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas operated, gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian s ...
s had been confiscated inside the hospital on a police raid. State media described the defendants as having "a terrorist aim". According to the prosecutor's case, al-Ekri acted as the group's ringleader, organizing staff at Salmaniya to oppose the Bahraini government. Al-Ekri was well known in Bahrain previous to the uprising for a January 2009 trip to the
Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
to provide aid to Palestinians during the Gaza War. On his return, he received a number of awards, including one from the king. After his arrest, Al-Ekri stated that he was being persecuted for his comments to the media about police violence: "They know we witnessed all the crimes of the regime and we stood strong by injured people and we talked to the media ... Anywhere, like in Gaza and in Yemen now, doctors speak about what they see." The defendants denied all charges and maintained that the accusations were politically motivated. In a joint statement, they held that "our only crime was that during the unrest earlier this year, we were outspoken witnesses to the bloodshed and the brutal treatment by the security forces." Bahraini MP Jamal Fakhro responded that Bahrain jails only "people who prefer to play politics rather than be doctors", not "doctors who treat people". A spokesman for Bahrain's Information Affairs Authority stated that the health workers were fabricating their stories and that they were "collaborating with the hard liners" in "an attempted coup d'etat". British journalist
Robert Fisk Robert Fisk (12 July 194630 October 2020) was a writer and journalist who held British and Irish citizenship. He was critical of United States foreign policy in the Middle East, and the Israeli government's treatment of Palestinians. His stanc ...
, who had been present at the protests, accused the Bahraini government of dishonesty: "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 ... How could these fine medical men and women have been trying to "topple" the monarchy? The idea that these 48 defendants are guilty of such a vicious charge is not just preposterous. It is insane, a total perversion – no, the total opposite – of the truth." In response, Bahrain's Information Affairs Authority threatened him with
libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...
action. The BICI supported the government account that medics occupied the first floor of Salmaniya hospital. However, it rejected the claim that medics had supplied protesters with weapons and stated that evidence supporting allegations that medics denied health care to patients was "hardly conclusive," as paraphrased by
Al Jazeera English Al Jazeera English (AJE; ar, الجزيرة‎, translit=al-jazīrah, , literally "The Peninsula", referring to the Qatar Peninsula) is an international 24-hour English-language news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network, which is own ...
."Bahrain court upholds verdict in medics trial"
Al Jazeera English. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012.


Trials


Felony trials

The twenty health workers facing felony charges were found guilty and sentenced on 29 September 2011 by the military National Safety Court of First Instance. According to the
International Federation for Human Rights The International Federation for Human Rights (french: Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme; FIDH) is a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the third oldest international h ...
, the trial lasted only a few minutes. Thirteen of the twenty received sentences of fifteen years' imprisonment, while five were sentenced to five years and two were sentenced to ten years. The sentences were a blow to the hopes of human rights groups lobbying on the health workers' behalf, which had predicted authorities would ease their stance after releasing some defendants on bail. The defendants were scheduled to be retried by civilian courts after widespread international criticism. The prosecutor's office stated that the defendants' confessions, which had allegedly been given under torture, would not be used as evidence. On 10 March 2012, Bahrain's
Information Affairs Authority The Information Affairs Authority (IAA) is Bahrain's ministry of information that was formed in July 2010. The president of IAA is appointed directly by the King of Bahrain and has the rank of a minister in the Bahrain government. From July 20 ...
announced that the criminal charges against fifteen of the twenty would be dropped, and referred to a review board. Their decision was reversed without explanation the following week. The trials were postponed to 14 June. On 14 June the court acquitted nine medics and downgraded sentences against nine others. Ali Al-Ekri was sentenced to five years imprisonment, another doctor to three years and seven were given from one month to one year. Two other doctors did not appeal their sentences of 15 years' imprisonment, instead fleeing the country. On 1 October, the Court of Cassation, the country's highest court, closed the first case involving twenty medics by upholding jail sentences on the remaining nine. Although the verdict is final, activist Mohamed al-Maskati said that they could still be pardoned by the king.


Misdemeanor trials

Of the 28 health workers charged with misdemeanors, 23 were convicted and five acquitted on 21 November 2012. Those convicted were sentenced to either serve three months in prison or pay 200 dinars (US$530). On 28 March 2013, 21 of the 23 convictions were overturned by an appeals court. The remaining two health workers had chosen not to appeal their sentences.


Torture of health workers

Many of the detained health workers stated that they were ill-treated or tortured while in custody, leading
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
and Amnesty International to call for independent investigations. Authorities reportedly forced detainees to stand for long periods, beat them with boards and rubber hoses, and deprived them of sleep in an effort to force confessions. In one case, a prisoner alleged that he had been forced to sign papers while blindfolded. Dr. Fatima Haji alleged that she was blindfolded and beaten in an effort to make her confess to faking the injuries to protesters during her Al Jazeera interview; she later identified her interrogator as a distant relative of the
king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
. Ibrahim al-Demastani, head of the Bahrain Nurse's Society, alleged that he was deliberately kicked and kneed by guards in his back at a spot where he had told them he had a
prolapsed disc Spinal disc herniation is an injury to the cushioning and connective tissue between vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, and physical ...
; he was then denied medical care until he happened to meet a police officer to whom he had once taught first aid. In an investigation by Human Rights Watch, Dr. Rula al-Saffar stated that she had been given electric shocks in the hands and face, and threatened with rape. Al-Ekri described being "constantly beaten by cables, hoses, and fists", as well as being forced to stand for a full day. Dr. Ghassan Dhaif stated that he remained handcuffed and blindfolded for 21 days, and "was beaten every hour". Dr. Basim Dhaif alleged that he was beaten in front of his children at his home at the time of his arrest, and eventually signed a
false confession A false confession is an admission of guilt for a crime which the individual did not commit. Although such confessions seem counterintuitive, they can be made voluntarily, perhaps to protect a third party, or induced through coercive interrogat ...
while in custody after authorities threatened to harm his family. Dr. Nader Dawani, a pediatrician, stated that he was forced to stand for seven days while being beaten by a female officer, and that other officers had tried to force a bottle into his anus. The BICI verified that "many detainees were subjected to torture and other forms of physical and psychological abuse". The report stated that medics were among the tortured.


Reactions


Domestic

Many Sunnis supporting the government of Bahrain stood against the doctors, accusing them of "deliberately worsening patient injuries for cameras" as well as "causing the deaths of protesters in order to discredit security personnel". The BICI report said that some of the Shia health workers refused to treat Sunni patients and instead used their positions to support activists by promoting their causes.


International

The trials drew sustained international attention, with governments, medical professional organizations, and human rights organizations issuing statements on behalf of the health workers.


Governments

The
U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...
stated that it was "deeply disturbed" by the sentences and urged the Bahraini government "to abide by its commitment to transparent judicial proceedings, including a fair trial, access to attorneys, and verdicts based on credible evidence". Following the conviction of nine medics on the retrials, the department said it was "deeply disappointed" that not all medics were acquitted"Convicted Bahrain Medical Workers Seek International Support"
Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...
. 16 June 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
and that "convictions appear to be based, at least in part, on the defendants' criticisms of government actions and policies".
United Nations Secretary General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...
Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...
also expressed concern at the legality of the military trials, calling on the Bahraini government "to ensure the application of due process and respect for international human rights norms". A spokesman for the
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...
noted the office's "severe concerns" over "serious due process irregularities" in the trials.


Health worker organizations

In a letter published in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', the
British Medical Association The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...
expressed its "deep concern" over the twenty felony convictions, stating that "all the independent evidence points to a politically motivated trial which has demonstrated a disregard for proper judicial process and fundamental principles of medical neutrality." The
Australian Medical Association The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is an Australian public company by guarantee formed as a professional association for Australian doctors and medical students. The association is not run by the Australian Government and does not regul ...
condemned the prosecutions, describing the defendants as "simply doing their jobs in places of conflict".
Doctors Without Borders Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...
criticized doctors at Salmaniya Hospital for joining the protests, but described the military response as "exponentially more damaging" to medical neutrality. In May 2011, the group issued a statement on behalf of the health workers, urging that "doctors and nurses must be allowed to provide healthcare in line with medical ethics, without the fear of reprisal." The
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
expressed similar concerns, stating that "health-care workers must be able to carry out their duty to treat injured people, regardless of their political affiliation, and even in times of conflict." The
International Council of Nurses The International Council of Nurses (ICN) is a federation of more than 130 national nurses associations. It was founded in 1899 and was the first international organization for health care professionals. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerl ...
and
World Medical Association The World Medical Association (WMA) is an international and independent confederation of free professional medical associations representing physicians worldwide. WMA was formally established on September 18, 1947 and has grown to 115 national m ...
issued a joint statement objecting to the closed military trial and stated its belief that "Doctors and nurses have an ethical duty to care for patients irrespective of their race, colour, creed and political affiliation. No health professional should be put on trial for looking after injured and dying people." The U.K.-based
Royal College of Nursing The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Elizabeth II was the patron until her death in 2022. ...
wrote to the Bahraini government on the health workers' behalf, as well as sending them a direct video message of support in which General Secretary Peter Carter said, "All you were doing was your job. You were trying to care for people."


Human rights organizations

International human rights groups said the accusations against doctors were "reprisals for treating injured protesters".
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
described the charges as "ludicrous" and a "travesty of justice". The organization called for a letter-writing campaign on behalf of the convicted health workers, stating its belief "that the charges were politically motivated, that the proceedings did not meet international fair trial standards and that he health workersmay be prisoners of conscience". Following the conviction of nine medics in the retrials, Amnesty said it was a "dark day for justice" and named them prisoners of conscience.
Freedom House Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...
called the trials part of "a pattern of repression that belies any promises of reform and honest political discourse by the government or the ruling family".
Front Line Defenders Front Line Defenders, or The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, is an Irish-based human rights organisation founded in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland in 2001 to protect those who work non-violently to uph ...
also described the arrests as part of a "widespread pattern of repression".
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
protested the alleged torture of the medics, condemned what it called the "fundamental unfairness" of the trials, and urged the appeals court to overturn the "flawed convictions". The
Gulf Centre for Human Rights The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) is an independent non-profit charity that defends human rights in the Persian Gulf and neighbouring states that include, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen, UAE, Oman, Iran, Qatar, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, an ...
called on Bahrain's king to "intervene personally and immediately" to have the charges against the health workers dropped. The U.S.-based
Physicians for Human Rights Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a US-based not-for-profit human rights NGO that uses medicine and science to document and advocate against mass atrocities and severe human rights violations around the world. PHR headquarters are in New Y ...
also called for the health workers' immediate release.


See also

*
College of Health Sciences, Bahrain The College of Health and Sport Sciences ( ar, كلية العلوم الصحية والرياضية) is a public higher education institution situated in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Established in 1976, it is a constituent college of the University ...


References

{{Arab Spring Bahraini uprising of 2011 Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Bahrain Human rights abuses in Bahrain