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View Full Version : Bahrain charges medics for aiding protesters



TheCultofAbeLincoln
4th May 2011, 05:02
Several doctors and nurses who treated injured anti-government protesters during months of unrest in Bahrain have been charged with acts against the state and will be tried in a military court, the justice minister has said.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Khaled bin Ali Al Khalifa, the justice minister, read the charges against the medical staff, which included "promoting efforts to bring down the government'' and "harming the public by spreading false news.''
Al Khalifa also said that another 23 doctors and 24 nurses faced charges included participating in attempts to topple the Gulf island's Sunni monarchy and taking part in illegal rallies.
The announcement is the latest in the Sunni rulers' pursuit of Shia opposition supporters after weeks of street marches demanding greater freedoms, equal rights and an elected government in Bahrain.
Separately, two former parliament members of the country's main Shia party Al Wefaq were arrested on Monday, according to a senior party leader, Abdul-Jalil Khalil.
'Medical professionals targeted'
International rights groups say Bahrain is targeting medical professionals who treated injured demonstrators at the Salmaniya medical centre, which was later overrun by the military with doctors and patients saying soldiers and police had conducted interrogations and detentions inside the complex.
Physicians for Human Rights said in a report last month that at least 32 health care professionals have been detained since Bahrain declared martial law.
The report by the US-based group detailed attacks on physicians, medical staff and patients "with weapons, beatings and tear gas.''
Hundreds of protesters, opposition leaders, human rights activists and lawyers have been detained since emergency rule was imposed by Bahrain's Sunni rulers on March 15.
At least 30 people have died since the protests began in mid February. Among the dead are also four opposition supporters who died in custody, including a blogger.
On Thursday, four anti-government protesters were convicted of killing two policemen during the protests and sentenced to death by a military court.
Three other demonstrators got life sentences.


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/20115313349762756.html

Nice to see that after the death of bin laden, US backed regimes are making sure new generations of extremists are created. I was getting worried. Satire aside, obviously the shia opposition in Bahrain more than likely doesn't view bin laden in a positive light. However the point remains that the Bahrainis are working hard to make sure a desire for ethnic cleansing of sunnis is instilled.

Secondly, the targeting of medical personnel is just another disgusting step by the dictatorship.

ComradeMan
4th May 2011, 13:10
I'm not sure how that stands up under International Law to be honest. A medic, doctor, nurse etc is obliged by oath to provide assistance and save lives regardlessly.

TheCultofAbeLincoln
5th May 2011, 07:58
What oath are you refering to? What international law (specifically regarding medics)?

ComradeMan
5th May 2011, 08:34
Hippocratic Oath, Declaration of Helsinki, and the Declaration of Geneva: "I will not permit considerations of age, disease or disability, creed, ethnic origin, gender, nationality, political affiliation, race, sexual orientation, social standing or any other factor to intervene between my duty and my patient",

The oaths are not "legally binding" as such however....

International Human Rights Law is supposed to safeguard medical neutrality.

The Geneva Conventions protocols are here:-
http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/CONVPRES?OpenView

Some human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty and Physicians for Human Rights have picked up on this. The only thing I can see as a potential legalistic problem is in the protocol concerning internal armed conflict, whether or not the Bahrain conflict would count- riots etc seem to be excluded. Perhaps someone with a better knowledge of International Law could be of more assistance in discussing this.