Bahrain

Unbiased Health Care Stifled in Bahrain

Thursday, April 30, 2015
The release of Ibrahim al-Demestani, a nurse imprisoned by Bahraini authorities, is the latest chapter in the government’s ongoing campaign against health professionals. While his release should be celebrated, al-Demestani should never have been imprisoned and forced to complete a three-year sentence in the first place. As protests against repressive governments swept across the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, people living in Bahrain launched peaceful protests. The response was unequivocal: the authorities launched a forceful, bloody crackdown against the largely peaceful protesters. A key element of this crackdown was the targeting of health professionals.

Dispatches: Taking Care of the Caregivers

Wednesday, December 17, 2014
In early December, the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution on “global health and foreign policy.” As the title suggests, it was a bit of a grab bag, covering issues such as vaccines, strengthening health systems, and Ebola. But the resolution also included the General Assembly’s strongest statement yet on the issue of attacks on health workers, facilities, and patients, and called on governments to act to ensure health workers and patients are safe and facilities protected from attack.

Medical Professional Imprisoned on Politically Motivated Charges

Friday, August 15, 2014
Last month, Dr. Saeed al-Samahiji, a Bahraini ophthalmologist, was arrested from his home to begin serving a one-year prison sentence after being convicted of “insulting the King of Bahrain” at a funeral last year. Dr. Al-Samahiji was among 20 medics in Bahrain that were convicted by a special military court on 29 September 29, 2011, for treating Bahraini citizens who had been attacked by security forces in the brutal government crackdown in response to peaceful protests in February of that year.

Health Workers, Patients Under Attack

Friday, May 16, 2014
(Geneva, May 16, 2014) – Hundreds of attacks on health workers have occurred in dozens of countries around the world since 2012, Human Rights Watch and the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition said in a joint report released today. The report, released in advance of a meeting on May 19 to 24, 2014, of health ministers from around the world, called on governments to do more to protect patients, health workers and facilities from attack in countries undergoing conflict and civil unrest. The 28-page report, “Under Attack: Violence against health workers, patients and facilities,” highlights recent attacks in countries around the world.

Impunity and Lack of Transparency Fuel Assault on Medics in Bahrain

Sunday, March 16, 2014
Three years ago today, Bahraini security forces entered Salmaniya Medical Complex - the largest public hospital in Bahrain. In a flagrant violation of the right to health, security forces interfered with medical services and refused entry to the injured and sick. Over the next few months, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) documented the government's systematic attacks on medics, including those who had offered help to peaceful anti-government protestors.

Medical Care Under Threat in 2013

Monday, December 30, 2013
In Bahrain, two nurses and a doctor remain imprisoned during the holidays simply for doing their job: treating the injured during the government crackdown. Turkey is considering a bill that seeks to criminalize emergency medical care -- the latest example of the government trying to intimidate doctors for caring for those injured in last summer's protests.

PHR Reiterates Call to Release Imprisoned Medics in Bahrain and Stop Shipment of Tear Gas

Friday, November 22, 2013
Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) today reaffirmed its call to the Bahraini government to immediately release medical professionals who have been wrongfully imprisoned and stop the ongoing targeting of the medical community. PHR, which has documented the Bahraini government’s attacks on doctors and illegal use of tear gas, also stressed the need to stop shipments of tear gas to the kingdom in order to prevent more abuses against the Bahraini people.

UN: Act to End Attacks on Health Workers - Expert's Report Urges Expanding Monitoring, Ending Impunity

Thursday, October 24, 2013
The United Nations General Assembly and Human Rights Council should act on the report by the UN special rapporteur on the right to health about attacks against health workers and services, the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition said today. The report, by Anand Grover, the special rapporteur, was presented to the General Assembly on October 24, 2013.

Targeting the Healers: When Governments Attack Health Workers in Times of Conflict

Friday, September 20, 2013
When the government of Bahrain responded to peaceful protests in 2011 with a barrage of tear gas, birdshot, and other weapons, nurse Rula Al-Saffar rushed to help those in need. She saw abuse against protesters, including the use of live ammunition against a peaceful crowd and the firing of tear gas canisters at close range.

Around the World, Health Workers under Attack

Friday, September 20, 2013
In Syria, doctors have fled in droves, fearful of adding to the casualties in the country’s bloody civil war. In Pakistan, vaccinators are gunned down by militants. In Bahrain, physicians who treat protesters are thrown in jail. Despite universally recognized international law protecting medical workers in conflict situations, increasingly, the people on the front line of health care are becoming targets. At a side event of the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva today, speakers from Turkey, Bahrain, and Pakistan described attacks on healthcare workers for providing care to politically unpopular groups, or because the workers witnessed human rights violations. Other recent attacks have targeted vaccination teams and ambulances.

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